Fire Emblem: The Tactician Book 1
by Rukaio101
Summary: A re-telling of FE7 with an OC tactician! What a completely original idea! Well, you know what they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Join Vesper and Lyn as they fight their way across Lycia, meeting all your favourite characters along the way. Now with extra Wallace!
1. Chapter 1

_**Felt like doing this for a while, unoriginal as it is, so here we are. I'd orginally planned for Chapter 1 + 2 to be the same, but I have a habit of making my chapters way too long, so I guess you'll have to stick with this for now. Crits would be appreciated, positive or negative. But mostly positive. Because I enjoy stroking my ego.**_

* * *

**Fire Emblem: A Tacticians Tale- Chapter 1**

The sun shone down brightly upon the sandy Plains of Sacae. Even the large groups of nomads who dwelled there considered it a very hot day and, considering they lived in what was effectively a desert, you could tell how serious that was. Most had already moved to shadier pastures, in the knowledge that anyone caught in the middle of the plains during this heatwave was pretty much doomed.

This information would've been a source of great irritation for the young man in green robes, currently making his way along the plains. That is, if his sun-addled brain was able to digest words with more than two syllables.

"How can the sun get this friggin' hot?" The man groaned although, due to the lack of saliva in his mouth, it came out more as "Gnuuuuh..."

_'If I don't get into the shade soon, I'm gonna be done for.' _He thought, finding talking to be too much of an effort. _'It probably won't be too long before I start hallucinating. Maybe that giant unicorn knows something that can help...'_

And with that, he collapsed onto the dirt, and everything turned black...

* * *

"Wanashbvlar!" The man spluttered, springing back to life.

Much to his surprise, he was no longer in the middle of nowhere and (possibly) not dead either. Instead, he was lying on a mattress, with a blanket over him, in some small circular tent.

_'Where am I?' _was his first thought, followed closely by '_And why am I naked?' _Then followed by '_Owowowow!'_ as his sunburnt body exploded into pain.

While he was mulling over these important questions, a young, green haired girl entered the tent, carrying a large sword.

_'Me naked + Large sword. This can't be good...'_

"Relax." The girl smiled, seeing the look of fright on the man's face. "I'm not going to hurt you. You were lucky I came along, or you would've definitely died. You've got nasty burns all over your body, but you should recover in a day or two."

She sat the sword down, and bought a bowl of water over to the man, who suddenly realised how incredibly thirsty he was. "Make sure to drink it slowly or-"

"Qwaalaach!" The man choked, having ignored her advice.

"... Yeah, that..." The girl sighed. "You're not from around here, are you? Not many people head into the equivalent of a desert with no supplies, during a heatwave."

"In my defense, I didn't know there was a heatwave." The man complained. "Anyway, the name's Vesper."

"Vesper?" The girl surpressed a giggle. "That's a bit of a weird name."

"Yeah, Vesper. My teacher gave me the name because I sting like a wasp." Vesper mimed a swift punch, causing his sunburnt arms considerable agony, and sending the girl bursting into laughter. "And apparently, I'm really annoying and hard to get rid of."

_'With his skinny physique, he probably couldn't even squash a bee.' _The girl thought.

"Anyway, you're one to talk about weird names, Miss..."

"Lyn." The girl answered.

"...Damn, that's pretty normal..."

Lyn burst out laughing uncontrollably again. Vesper attempted to keep a stern face, but eventually Lyn's smiling face got to him, and he started laughing too.

"Anyway, what were you doing out in the middle of the plains?" Lyn asked, wiping back a tear.

"I was heading to meet up with my teacher." Vesper explained. "We were planning to meet up in the Western Isles as part of my tactician training."

"You're a... tactician?" Lyn asked, sceptically. "What kind of a job is that?"

"Tactician in training." Vesper corrected. "Basically, my job is to lead armies and plan battle strategies. It's all in the name, really. I hate to boast, but I'm pretty damn good at it."

"Okay..." Lyn tried to change the subject. "So you're from Bern then?"

"Actually, I'm from Ilia." Vesper answered.

"But... if you're from Ilia... and you're heading to the Western Isles..." Lyn was slightly confused. "How did you end up here? Sacae is to the south of Ilia."

"Is it?" Vesper scratched his head. "That would explain quite a lot. I've never particularly been one for Geography."

"You're really a tactician?" Lyn blurted out, before she could help herself. "I thought you had to be somewhat smart to be one!"

...

Lyn was expecting Vesper to be offended so, when she looked up, she was surprised to see an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Tactician in training." Vesper corrected. "But if you want me to prove it to you..."

His face changed, and he hit her with an ice-cold, analytical stare. Lyn was frozen as his gaze washed over her. She couldn't see the slightest trace of emotion in his face. He was like some souless, terrifying demon. Then, as soon as it had begun, Vesper's gaze stopped and his face returned to its normal, smiling state.

"Where would you like me to start?" He asked. "With your parents? Your father was a nomad chieftain and your mother was from somewhere in... Eastern Lycia. You're already an accomplished swordswoman, however you haven't yet killed anyone. Or..." His gaze darkened. "Should I talk about the bandit attack which left your parents, and most of your tribe, dead?"

Lyn grasped the dagger she had concealed in her clothes. Had she let a bandit spy into her tent? "How-?"

"-Did I know?" Vesper finished, in a cryptic way. "Wasn't that hard to figure out. Anyone can tell, from your face, you're only half nomad, and you have several features suggesting one of your parents is from Lycia. Both this tent, and that sword you just placed down, are pretty high class, suggesting one of your parents must've been a chieftain-class nomad and, since nomad laws state a woman can't be chieftain, your father must've been the nomad and your mother the Lycian. Speaking of that sword, the way you held it while entering definitely suggests you've had training, but you're missing a... look most soldiers have, so I doubt you've been in any large scale combat, or killed anyone."

"And the bandit attack?"

"Look at this tent." Vesper explained. "As I said, it's a higher quality than most nomads can afford, but it's very small and barely decorated. The dirt on the ground suggests it was only placed here a couple of days ago. However, this isn't the sort of tent you'd use for an overnight stay somewhere, and it's built more for staying in mountaneous areas, not in the middle of plains. The fact that you even entered the plains during a heatwave, when you found me, suggests you _had_ to go out there, perhaps to scout a place to set up camp. Also, nomads are a close community, so the fact that you didn't get a doctor to look after me suggests either there isn't one, or they're too busy to deal with me. When you entered, you seemed hesitant to drop your sword, even though I was injured, and the way you immediately went for your dagger shows you've recently become more paranoid. Only conclusion? You were forced out of your mountain homes by someone who killed a lot of your clan. Since there haven't been any large scale army movements recently, to my knowledge, bandits seem the most likely choice."

Lyn was amazed. He'd worked out this much from so little?

"And... my parents?"

"Picture frame." Vesper pointed to a small wooden table where a picture frame lay face down. "It's an old one, and there's definitely a picture inside, but it's deliberately been placed face down. Obvious sign of grief. Even more likely, knowing nomad chieftains, your father would rather die than let bandits attack your clan. And since your mother isn't here grieving, or helping you, I can assume..." He stopped. Lyn had gone strangely silent.

"Are you okay?" He asked, immediately regretting his actions. He just had to go and show off in front of the grieving woman.

"I'm fine." Lyn smiled, although she obviously wasn't. "You're completely right... Mr Tactician. My tribe, the Lorca, were attacked by the Taliver Bandits. Almost all of us were killed, including my parents."

"I'm sorry." Vesper wasn't sure what else to say.

"It's okay."

...

Luckily, the awkward silence was broken by the sound of a bell. Or at least Vesper thought it was lucky. Lyn, on the other hand, thought differently

"The alarm? Bandits!" Lyn hissed, grabbing her sword. "Stay here!"

"Wait!" Vesper yelled, lunging forward. "I can help!"

Lyn looked at the skinny youth, completely sunburnt. "How? I doubt you could even lift a sword, never mind fight with one!"

"I'm a tactician, remember?" Vesper grinned.

"Well we don't have an army to command, so you're not likely to be of much use here." Lyn growled, impatiently. "Most of the warriors were killed in the attack, so it's just me. And we don't have time to come up with a strategy. If I don't hurry, those bandits will slaughter the rest of my tribe!"

"You underestimate my powers," Vesper winked. "Hold out your hand for a second."

"Alright, but this better be-"

With almost lightning speed, Vesper shot forward and scratched Lyn lightly on the hand, with some sort of ceremonial dagger.

"Why you-?" She cursed, drawing her hand back.

"Wait a moment." Vesper assured her, putting his dagger away. "It should appear soon."

"I don't have time for this!" Lyn yelled, and dashed out of the tent, towards the sound of the bells, leaving Vesper all alone.

"So impatient." Vesper sighed. "I wonder if I really should've given her a master seal. Ah well, not much I can do about it now."

Suddenly, his body began to glow a light blue.

"Let's get this battle underway."


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2 and we finally get to a proper fight! Thanks to everyone who gave reviews/criticisms_**

**_MilleniaMaster: Thank you. I based a lot of Vesper's deductive style on Sherlock Holmes (a bit cliche, yes, but very effective). _**

_**Gunlord500: I've already thought out how Vesper's magic works and I'll give a (almost) full explanation next chapter. As for the Lorca thing, apparently some did survive in the game, but they refused to follow Lyn. But I really don't care about that, because I don't intend for this just to be a straight re-telling, I intend to change quite a lot of things, major and minor. It's no fun just sticking to the game script.**_

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

Considering she had to look after Vesper, Lyn had set up her tent away from the rest of her clan, so Vesper could get some peace. As she dashed out of her tent, she could see a column of smoke rising from where the rest of the clan had camped out.

_'This time I'm not going to run away.'_ Lyn gritted her teeth, dashing forward. _'I'll defend my clan or die trying'_

It didn't take her long to spot a small group of three bandits heading towards the camp. Normally, Lyn'd keep calm and slowly follow and pick off the bandits, but the grief of the last bandit attack clouded her judgement and she leapt forward at the bandit trio, taking the first by surprise and running him through with her sword. The second screamed, and jumped backwards, but the third, experienced in combat, was more skilled and swung his axe at Lyn, while she was unprepared. She barely managed to dodge the axe swing, and retreated to a safer distance.

"Looks like we've found a stray." The bandit who attacked Lyn gave a malicious grin, showing a mouthful of rotting teeth. "And a pretty one at that."

The second bandit recovered from his shock, and drew his axe.

"You reckon the boss'll be pleased if we bring her back?" He began grinning like the first.

Lyn began to shake. She was outnumbered 2 to 1, by bandits who were obviously pretty strong. She was just a young nomad girl who hadn't even finished her swordsmanship training. But she had to protect her tribe, and the injured Vesper. She tightened her grip on her sword and prepared for another attack.

_"Head to the east." _A voice suddenly sounded in her head. A voice that wasn't her own.

"Wha...?"

"_I said head to the east."' _The voice repeated. _"Don't bother taking these guys on in single combat. You'll lose."_

"Vesper?" Lyn suddenly recognised the voice. "How are you-?"

_"Tactician magic." _Vesper explained, interrupting her. _"I'll explain more when you're not in mortal danger. Now here's what I want you to do..."_

The two bandits looked on, confused, as their target was apparently talking to herself. Suddenly, she sprinted off, towards the east.

"Oi!" They yelled, chasing after her.

"This plan of yours better work, Vesper." Lyn muttered under her breath.

_"No need to worry about that." _Vesper reassured her. _My plans always work. It just comes down to how good you are at running..."_

* * *

The two bandits chased Lyn across the plains, but they couldn't catch her, and were beginning to tire. They were about to give up, when Lyn suddenly stopped, at the bottom of a large ditch.

"You sure gave us a decent run for our money." The first bandit grinned, hopping down into the ditch. "But now the chase is- huh?"

A loud squelch sounded from beneath the bandit's feet.

"Mud?" The bandit tried to pull his feet out, but he was stuck. "But it 'asn't rained for days!"

"I'll help you." The second bandit offered, reaching his hand out. "Grab hold of-"

"No! Keep your eye on the girl!" The first bandit warned. But it was too late.

Unlike the bulky bandits, Lyn was able to move over the mud with ease, and she cut down the unprepared second bandit, before leaping out of the way of the remaining bandit's axe swing.

"Why... you...!" The bandit tossed his axe at Lyn in a last ditch effort, but she dodged it with ease, and cut his neck open. The bandit fell lifeless into the mud, blood spraying everywhere.

Lyn sat down for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath, and comprehend what had just happened.

_"You okay?" _Vesper's voice echoed in her head.

"Just a bit shaken." Lyn answered. "How-"

_"-Did I know about the mud?" _Vesper finished, in what was becoming quite an annoying habit of his. _"Took a quick sweep of the landscape. The shape of this ditch suggests that it was a river, or something, which recently dried up in the heatwave. However, even in this heat, there's sure to be some damp earth or mud left."_

"I was more talking about the telepathy." Lyn sighed.

_"Tactician magic."_ Vesper shrugged. _"You see that mark I made on your hand?"_

"Huh?" Lyn looked at her hand. Where Vesper had scratched it, there was now an odd marking on her hand, which looked slightly like a wasp. It was glowing light blue.

_"That's the Tactician's mark. A contract between a tactician and a warrior." _Vesper explained. _"It lets me communicate with you and share 've got a master copy, allowing full communication. _

"Since it's magic, does that mean you can strike down enemies with thunderbolts, or anything?" Lyn asked.

_"Nope. It's completely useless when it comes to combat."_

"Oh..."

_"It does have many other uses!" _Vesper felt the need to defend his magic. _"I'll explain more once you take out the other three bandits near the camp."_

"Another 3?" Lyn sprung to her feet. "How do you know?"

_"I'll show you." _Vesper grinned.

Suddenly, an image flashed before Lyn's eyes. She could see a small, blue, cartoonish version of herself, standing at the bottom on a ditch. Nearby, she could see the camp, with multiple green figures huddled together, while 3 red figures prowled around them.

"Tactician magic?" She smiled.

_"Damn straight." _Vesper smiled back. _"Blue figures are allies, red figures are enemies, green figures are neutrals and non-combatants. You ready?"_

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lyn grabbed her sword.

_"Well you just killed three people."_

"And I'm ready to kill three more."

* * *

The remnants of the Lorca tribe sat huddled together, fearful for their lives, as the three bandits looted their homes, in search of valuables.

"There's 'ell all here, boss!" One of them complained, kicking over a bag of grain. "This was a waste of time!"

"Just keep lookin' boys!" The boss, Batta told them. "Even if there's nowt here, we can sell the women and children as slaves."

The Lorca cowered further at that. The pressure finally got to one young girl, who wriggled out of her mothers grasp, and made a run for it. She didn't get far before Batta caught her and lifted her clean off the ground.

"You shouldn't 'ave done that." He growled. "Now, I'm gonna have to set an example to this lot. By cuttin' you in half!"

The little girl shrieked, as he raised his axe and-

*snap*

Batta's head swiftly turned to where the sound came from. He saw a small figure moving in the ruins of the camp.

"Oi, Belark, you missed one!" He yelled.

"I got it, boss." Belark moved towards the figure. He found her near a small, burning tent. It was a young woman, hunched over, with her hands covering her face. She seemed scared out of her mind. "Hey Lady, stop sittin' around and join the re-"

Lyn immediately stabbed him in the arm with her concealed dagger.

"Gyaaaaahhh!" He screamed in pain, falling backwards.

"Belark?" Batta considered dashing to check on him, but remembering he had several prisoners to look after, he thought better of it. "Kraleb, go check on him."

"R-Right boss." Kraleb slowly, and cautiously, made his way towards his injured comrade. "Belark, what happened?"

"Woman... scared... hand... stabbed..." Belark groaned in pain.

"Where is she now?"

"Behind you." Lyn answered, pointing her sword at his neck.

* * *

Batta was worried now. Judging by Kraleb's loud scream, he was probably dead. Which just left Batta. Whoever his opponent was, he was smart and strong. So why had he not attacked yet? Suddenly, he felt something squirming in his hands. He was still holding onto the little girl from earlier.

An idea crossed Batta's mind. A very clever idea.

"Oh Mr Warrior!" He yelled, holding his axe to the girl's throat. "Come out now or I'll decapitate this girl!"

From her hiding place, Lyn gasped.

"Vesper, I-"

_"I know." _Vesper sighed. _"I'll never be able to convince you not to go, will I?"_

"No." Lyn smiled.

_"Good luck."_

"Thanks." And with that, Lyn stepped out towards the bandit.

At first Batta was shocked. His bandit gang had been taken down by a woman? Then his disbelief turned to rage.

"Drop your weapon." He growled. "You'll pay for what you did to my gang. I'm gonna hang up your head as a trophy."

Lyn dropped her sword, as Batta had asked. Now, her only chance was the small concealed dagger she had, but she'd need a lot of luck to even get close to him. And she'd already had a fair share of that from Vesper.

Vesper.

It was strange she'd think of him in her final moments, but since she'd found him on the road, even then, there was this slight connection she'd felt to him. While he seemed weak and scrawny, and sometimes oafish, he had a sharp mind and there was no way she'd have got this far on her own. She wondered if the bandits would hunt him down. Or whether he'd get lost again and die in the heat. And suddenly she felt a great need to stay alive. For Vesper's sake.

Batta threw the young girl to the side, and charged at the the defenseless warrior. At the last second, Lyn threw herself to the side, but it was a little late. Batta's axe cut into her arm, leaving a large gash, but Lyn had managed to stab Batta in the leg with her dagger.

"Gaaaaahhh!" Batta yelled. "You little-!"

Lyn grabbed her sword from the ground and, ignoring the pain from her arm, dashed forward towards Batta. But Batta was ready and thwacked Lyn's wounded arm with the flat of his axe. There was a sickening crack as the bone shattered, but Lyn didn't stop and, with one swift movement, she cut Batta down.

_'I did it.'_ she thought to herself. _'I protected my clan, just like I said I would.'_

Then the pain finally got to her and everything started to go black. Before she passed out, however, she saw a familiar figure dressed in bright green robes...

* * *

Lyn woke with a start, to find herself lying on her bed, in her tent.

_'Was it a dream?'_ She wondered. Then the throbbing pain in her arm started. It was quite sloppily bandaged, with a vulinary rubbed into it, but it was recovering quickly.

"You're awake then?"

Lyn turned suddenly, to spot Vesper sitting against the tent wall. "Y-Yeah."

"You were out of it for a couple of days." Vesper smiled. "I thought we may have had to amputate that arm, but you pulled through."

A thought hit Lyn. "The tribe-!"

"-Are alive and well." Vesper hadn't lost his touch for finishing other peoples sentences. "All thanks to me."

"Really...?" Lyn gave him an amused smirk.

"Alright, you helped a little." Vesper admitted. "Anyway, now you're all recovered, I can finally start heading for the Western Isles."

"You're leaving?" Lyn couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. "You can't stay a little longer?"

"A tactician's work is never done." Vesper sighed.

"I thought you were only a tactician in training?"

"A tactician in training's work is usually never done." Vesper winked. "But if you really want, I suppose I could wait until you're completely okay. After all, I wouldn't want my guide to be injured."

"Guide?"

"Yep." Vesper grinned. "I had a talk with your clan, and they agreed to let you accompany me to the Western Isles."

"A-Are you serious?" Lyn gasped, with a little too much enthusiasm. "But I need to look after the clan and-"

"Don't worry about that." Vesper answered off-handedly. "After you beat the bandits, a fellow nomad tribe arrived and agreed to look after the rest of the Lorca for you, so you can travel with me and make sure I don't die... or get lost."

This was too much for Lyn to take in at once. "But-"

"-I'm too good for you?" Vesper suggested, with an air of over-the-top poshness. "Don't worry. I occasionally allow commoners and lowlife to accompany me."

"Keep that up and I really will cut you." Lyn grinned. "But what makes you think I want to travel with you?"

"Well do you?"

"Yes..." Lyn admitted "But that's not the point."

"But then what is?"

"Um..." Lyn wasn't sure. "Well... why do you want me to travel with you?"

"Because I've gotten used to your company." Vesper admitted. "Not to mention you're a strong fighter, and you'd make a good guide, for me."

"How come I have to be your 'guide'?" Lyn jabbed, cheekily. "Surely you should be my follower, or something"

Vesper thought a moment. "Let's compromise then. We'll be partners."

"Partners?" Lyn liked the sound of that. "Alright then. Let's get ready to move, 'partner'." We have a long day's walk ahead of us."

"Walk? Can't we just get a horse or something?"

"Do you know how expensive horses are? Besides, if you spent some time walking, perhaps you wouldn't be so scrawny."

"I prefer the term 'undernourished'."

As the two laughed, and argued, little did they know that their new partnership would become one passed down in history and legend, for all of time...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Are we almost there yet?" Vesper panted.

"We've barely just started walking." Lyn pointed out. "We've still got a few more miles until we reach the next town."

"Miles?" Vesper groaned. "Told you we should've got horses."

The two were passing through a large, montaneous area, on their way to Lycia.

"We don't need horses." Lyn sighed. "It's not that far to walk."

"Perhaps not for some sort of barbarian warrior, but for a simple tactician like myself, it's a pretty big effort." Vesper complained.

Lyn thwacked him on the head with her sword scabbard.

"Who are you calling a 'barbarian warrior'?" She scowled.

"That really hurt, you know." Vesper cringed, rubbing his head. "You could've damaged my precious brain."

"Speaking of your brain," Lyn remembered. "You never did give me an explanation about your tactician magic, and how it works."

"You really want to hear about it?" Vesper shrugged. "It's a long story."

"Knowing how slow you are, we've got a lot of time."

"Alright then." Vesper sighed. "What do you know about magic?"

"Um..." Lyn racked her brain for information. "There are four types, Light, Anima, Dark and Healing... You need a spellbook or stave to use any of them... Er... and that's about it."

"Pretty good." Vesper admitted. "But wrong. There are seven known types of magic, one of which is tactician magic. Originally, mages who used this magic were called Tactical mages, or Tacticians, however the title has recently taken on a wider meaning, covering anyone who plans tactics. Everyone has tactician magic, but only a few people can actually use it, hence why there aren't many propertacticians, like myself. However tactician spells need large amounts of magic, more than one person can produce, so tacticians have to make contracts with warriors, in order to 'borrow' their magic." He held out his hand, to show a wasp-like tattoo on it. "You remember this?"

"Huh?" Lyn suddenly remembered the glowing blue mark on her hand. "Yeah, you told me it was the Tactician's mark."

"Correct." Vesper grinned, drawing his ceremonial dagger. "If I scratch someone with this it forms the Tactician's mark, letting me borrow their unused tactician magic for spells and stuff. In effect, it turns a person into a spell book. But it only works on people willing to help, and it only activates if we're in a battle. A battle is started when either one of my soldiers kills, or is killed by someone. The two primary tactician spells are telepathic communication, and being able to detect people nearby. That was how I could talk to you, and how I knew about the bandits at the camp. There are other, more complicated skills I can learn, but I need to form more contracts with people. You understand?"

"No, not really." Lyn admitted.

"Oh..." Vesper spotted something in the distance. "Hey, it looks like a couple of people are passing by, on horseback. Maybe we could ask them for a lift."

"People?" Lyn peered into the distance. "We should hide. Bandits have been known to attack travellers here."

"They have? Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Come on!" Lyn dragged the protesting Vesper behind a large rock.

A few minutes later, the two men on horseback arrived. Looking around, they slowly dismounted.

"I thought you said you saw someone here, Sain." The first man sighed.

"I know I saw someone, Kent!" The second, Sain, scratched his head. "They must've vanished into mid-air."

"Or they're right behind you."

Lyn jumped out of her hiding place, grabbed Sain, and held a blade to his throat. "Now who are you, and why are you looking for us?"

"Why what is this delightful sound that reaches my ears?" Sain sang, remarkably chirpy for someone being held hostage. "My angel, you have the most pleasant voice, and I'm sure your looks are beautiful as well."

"Wha...?" Lyn wasn't expecting this. While she was surprised, Sain grabbed her hand, knocking her sword away. Lyn expected him to push her away and attack her, but instead he pulled her close in what seemed like a passionate embrace.

"Indeed, you have the most beautiful face." He swooned. "I wish I could take you with me back to Caelin, home to men of passion and fire, and together we could be married upon the grassy plains!"

"Um... Vesper, help?" Lyn whimpered, trying to break out of Sain's grasp.

"Sorry about my friend." Vesper came out from behind the rock, with his hands up. "We thought you were bandits."

"My darling, I would steal your heart any day, as you have stolen mine." Sain continued to 'woo' the struggling Lyn.

"I'm sorry about_ my _friend." The second knight, Kent apologised. "He... gets carried away."

"Yeah, I can see that." Vesper had a sudden thought. "I don't suppose you could give us a lift to the nearby town, could you?"

"No!" Lyn protested, finally breaking out of Sain's grasp. "I'm not travelling with this psycho!"

"Then you can travel with the other guy, and I'll travel with the psycho." Vesper suggested.

"I only let women ride my horse." Sain pouted.

...

"Lyn, are you happy to walk to the next town?"

"Wait, Lyn?" Kent interrupted, startled. "Short for Lyndis?"

"Y-Yes!" Lyn was equally startled. "How did you-?"

"Was your mother named Madelyn?"

"Wait, wha-?" Sain spluttered. "She's our mission?"

"Your full name is Lyndis?" Vesper scratched his head. "'Cause that's kind of a weird name."

"Shut up." Lyn gave Vesper a whack with her sword, before turning back to Kent. "How do you know about me and my mother?"

"You mean you really are Lady Hausen's daughter?" Kent gasped.

"Lady Hausen?" Vesper interrupted. "Lyn, you didn't tell me your mother was_ the _Madelyn Hausen!"

"I don't know what you're all talking about!" Lyn yelled, exasperated.

"So you're Marquess Hausen's grand-daughter?" An unidentified voice crooned.

Everyone turned to see a grinning bandit, leaning against a rock.

"Who are you?" Sain asked. "And what do you want with my darling Lyndis?"

"She is a darling, ain't she!" The bandit chuckled. "But unfortunately, I've been 'ired to kill the grand-daughter of Marquess Hausen, so she'll have to die!"

He clicked his fingers and several more bandits popped out from behind the rocks, spreading out across the path. The group was now surrounded and badly outnumbered.

"Sain, be ready." Kent drew his sword. "We'll have to fight our way out of this one."

"Really?" Vesper questioned, climbing onto Sain's horse. "Sounds unnecessarily dangerous."

"I don't really see any other option." Kent pointed out. "We're completely surrounded."

"That doesn't mean we can't run away." Vesper sighed. "Get onto your horses, grab Lyn and head for... that guy." He pointed at a bandit brandishing a particularly large and lethal looking axe.

"But-"

"Do as he says." Lyn ordered, climbing onto Kent's horse. "He knows what he's doing."

"Fine."

Kent and Sain jumped onto their horse and charged at the bandit, who attempted to swing his axe at them but, to Kent and Sain's surprise, collapsed from the weight of the axe, and they rode past him with ease. The rest of the bandits made a leap for them, but it was much too late. The two knights galloped away, while the bandits flung insults at their fleeing prey. Soon the bandit troupe was far away, and the two knights stopped to question their passengers.

"How did-"

"- I know that he'd fall over?" Vesper grinned. "He was limping slightly, suggesting he'd recently had a leg injury. Not to mention, he seemed completely unused to the weapon he was carrying. My guess is that they gave it to him so he wouldn't look like the weak link in the circle."

"Pfft, I could've fought them all off." Sain scoffed, unimpressed with Vesper's tactics. "It was a cowardly thing to run away."

"It was a _sensible_ thing to run away." Vesper corrected. "But I'm sure you'll have a chance to show off your 'dashing bravery' to Lyn another time."

"Why you-!"

"Hold it, you two." Lyn interrupted, before a fight could start. "I want to know what all this business is about my mother and 'Marquess Hausen'."

"You mean you really don't know?" Vesper seemed surprised.

"Know what?"

"Marquess Hausen is the Lord of Caelin, one of the biggest provences in Lycia." Vesper explained. "He once had a daughter, named Madelyn, but she apparently eloped with a nomad lover, several years ago. My guess is she was your mother."

"Your knowledge of Caelin affairs is impressive." Kent admitted.

"Tacticians need to know these things." Vesper shrugged. "What I'm curious about, is why two Caelin knights are actively seeking her out. I heard Lord Hausen disowned her."

"Well..." Kent looked nervous. "It's a little known secret, but the marquess is dying of an illness. The Doctors don't think he has much time left. The Marquess really did love Madelyn, so he wants to see her one last time, before his death."

"Then there's a problem." Lyn sighed. "My mother is dead. She was killed by bandits."

"Lady Madelyn? Dead?" Kent gasped. "What'll we tell the Marquess?"

"Why don't you take Lyn to him?" Vesper suggested. "She'd technically be his heir, right? I'm sure he'd love to meet his only grandchild."

"What?" Lyn gasped. "But Vesper! Your training-!"

"-Can wait." Vesper grinned. "This sounds much more interesting. Not to mention, I'm sure you'd be interested in meeting your grandfather."

What he didn't tell Lyn, was that he was worried about the bandits hired to kill her, and who they were working for. And whether that person would try to kill her again.

"Well I suppose we could-""

"Then it's settled!" Sain cheered. "We'll accompany the delightful Lady Lyndis back to Caelin with us."

*cough*

"Oh, and her scrawny follower."

"I prefer 'undernourished partner' myself."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Just a little heads up that Chapter 5 might take a while to come out. I've currently got badly addicted to Pokemon Conquest (possible fic coming out soon) so I haven't been writing as much as normal. If you really can't wait, or need more Rukaioness to satisfy you (and let's face it, who doesn't?) then I'm planning on uploading an old Pokemon detective story I wrote a while ago, so keep an eye out for it.**_

_**Anyway, with that warning out of the way, enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"I still don't see the point of this." Sain muttered, rubbing his hand in pain.

"Believe me, it'll come in handy later." Vesper assured him, cutting Kent's hand slightly with his ceremonial dagger. "There. Now I've made the contract with both of you."

"And you're sure this'll help us in battle?" Kent asked, skeptically.

"You'll see." Vesper winked.

"Hey, how come you only scratched Kent's hand, but badly cut mine?" Sain complained.

"I like Kent more than you."

"Alright, I've finished gathering supplies." Lyn ran over, carrying a large sack. "I have to admit, it was a good idea to get that carthorse. I'd hate to have to carry this lot to Caelin."

When they'd arrived, Vesper had immediately dashed off and bought an old wagon, with some horses to pull it, under the claim that 'he didn't want anyone to get tired in case they were attacked'. Lyn was certain it was just because he didn't want to walk, but she didn't mind.

"Oh, before we go..." Vesper reached into his pockets and pulled out an old map. "I'd rather like to visit this church."

"Oh, the altar of the Mani Katti?" Lyn looked over Vesper's shoulder.

"Mani What?" Sain scratched his head.

"The Mani Katti is a sacred sword." Lyn explained. "They say if a traveller prays at the altar before a journey, he is granted good luck. I didn't know you were the religious type, Vesper."

"I just figure we could use all the luck we can get." Vesper grinned.

In actuality, there were two reasons Vesper wanted to visit the altar. Firstly, he wanted to hire a stave-using priest. He was certain they'd get into a fight sooner or later and, although they had a fair few vulinaries, a healing priest would make things a lot easier. The second reason was to do with the bandit troupe they'd met. Vesper had no doubt the bandits were trying to follow them, so he figured by going somewhere unexpected, they could throw the bandits off their trail.

"I don't know..." Kent scratched his chin. "I don't think we should waste time. The Marquess is seriously ill."

"I'd quite like to go." Lyn piped in. "It'll be nice to relax a bit."

"Ah yes, the two of us can stroll the altar grounds alone, and pray to God to help our love stay strong." Sain went into his 'passionate romantic' mode.

"Uh... yeah, that too."

"So it's agreed." Vesper grinned. "We'll head to the altar of the Mani Katti!"

* * *

"Why won't the damn sword come out?" Glass delivered another painful kick to the old priest lying on the ground.

"Heh... The sword won't come out to one like you..." The priest chuckled, inbetween his gasps of pain. "It will only come out to one the gods have chosen as worthy..."

"I am Glass, the best swordsman in Sacae!" Glass yelled, kicking the priest again. "Even the Gods fear my name! Now remove the sword!"

Glass and his gang had recently take over the altar, in an attempt to steal the sword. But, to Glass's surprise, the sword wouldn't come out. No matter how hard he pulled, it was stuck fast in the altar.

"Boss, maybe you should lay off him a bit." One of Glass's henchmen suggested. "You're probably gonna kill him if you keep that up."

Glass stopped a moment, attempting to calm his rage. "You're right. Take the priest to the back room, and make him talk."

"Got it." The Henchman grabbed the priest's arms and dragged him away.

"In the meantime, you bastards get to work!" Glass yelled at the rest of his gang. "If the sword won't come out of the altar, then we'll break the altar and pull the sword from its rubble! Now-"

"Aieeeeek!" A scream suddenly sounded from the entrance. A young woman had just entered and spotted the gang. "Thieves!" She began to run off, towards the main town.

"Damn that Ferrest! He was supposed to stop anyone getting near!" Glass groaned. He turned to his gang. "Don't just stand there gawping! Get after her and kill her, before she brings the whole town onto us!"

Glass's gang hesitated for a couple of seconds, before dashing after the woman.

* * *

Outside, Sain and Kent prepared their weapons.

"And you sure this'll work?" Kent muttered under his breath.

_"My plans always work."_ Vesper had taken shelter in a nearby house and was now in full glowing tactician mode. _"Get ready. They've taken the bait. There are 5 bandits heading your way."_

When the group had arrived at the altar, Vesper was the first to notice several suspicious footprints, in the dirt. They had asked nearby residents, who told them that they'd seen several armed men heading into the church. Their suspicions were confirmed when Lyn was attacked by one of the bandits, while scouting the area. She slew him with realitve ease, allowing Vesper to activate his tactician powers. He'd detected Glass's henchmen in the church, beating up the priest, and immediately came up with a plan. Lyn would pretend to be an innocent passerby and lure the gang outside, where Sain and Kent could ambush them. So far things were going exactly as planned...

_'Any second now...' _ Lyn thought to herself, as she let the bandits out of the church courtyard. Suddenly, she 'tripped' and was sent sprawling to the ground. The bandits couldn't believe their luck and ran over to where she was lying.

"Tough luck, lady!" One of the bandits grinned. "But we can't let you get any-"

In one one swift motion, Lyn drew her sword and slashed the bandit's throat. While the other bandits were surprised, Kent and Sain charged at them, on horse back, cutting down another two. The remaining two bandits, seeing things take a turn for the worse, decided to retreat back to the safety of the church, but couldn't outrun the two cavaliers, who sliced them down.

"As much as I hate the idea of my darling Lyn being used as bait, that worked pretty well." Sain admitted.

_"Thank you."_ Vesper grinned. _"Now there are two more bandits left inside the church. I trust you can fight well on two feet?"_

"We'll be fine." Kent helped Lyn to her feet. "We'd better hurry. Who knows what they're doing to that priest."

_"Be careful." _Vesper warned. _"One of those bandits seems really strong."_

"You can measure someone's power now?" Lyn muttered.

_"Now that I've made 3 contracts, I can."_ Vesper explained. _"It's only a weak estimation though. I have no idea exactly how strong he is, or whether he's stronger than you three. So just be careful."_

"We will." Kent reassured him. "Let's go."

The three slowly entered the church, swords drawn.

"Vesper said that the strong bandit was in here, so keep an eye out for him." Lyn whispered.

"That scrawny wimp isn't always right." Sain scowled. "I can't see anyone in he-"

"Duck!" Lyn kicked Sain in the back of the leg, knocking him over and narrowly avoiding Glass's sword stroke. She then leapt at Glass, but he deflected her blow with ease.

"Not bad." Glass smiled, moving out of Lyn's range. "You're not just an 'innocent bystander' after all."

"Keep back, you two." Lyn nodded to Kent, who was helping Sain up. "This guy's way out of your league."

"But-"

"No arguing!" Lyn leapt at Glass and the two fought, in a flurry of steel.

_"Do as she says." _Vesper ordered. _"Do you two have your lances with you?"_

"No, we left them with our horses."

_"Damn!"_ Vesper swore. _"We'll need them to take this guy down. Stay there and I'll fetch them."_

With that, Vesper dashed out of the house towards the church, still in his glowing, blue tactician mode. Those who saw him that day believed him to be an avenging phantom, seeking vengeance against those who had invaded the altar, and he became a mysterious legend. But that didn't bother him at the moment.

Back in the church, Lyn and Glass were still duelling. Neither were able to get the other hand. Their blades were moving so fast, Sain and Kent had trouble keeping an eye on them, never mind getting close enough to strike. Finally Vesper arrived, in all his glowing blue glory, and chucked the two their lances.

"What do we do now?" Kent asked.

_"Wait until Lyn-" _Vesper remembered he didn't need to use telepathy. "Wait until Lyn gets back, then hit him with your lances."

"What makes you think that'll get him?" Sain scoffed. "Look at that guy's skills!"

"We've got a weapons triangle advantage." Vesper explained. "Lances beat swords, since it's harder for swordmen to get close enough to do damage. Similarly, swords beat axes, since axes are too heavy to deflect multiple sword strikes, and axes beat lances, since they can snap them in half thanks to their strength."

"I see..." Sain lied.

"Look, that doesn't matter for now." Vesper turned back to concentrating on the battle. "Lyn, retreat!"

Lyn opened her mouth to reply, but the momentary distraction was what Glass had been waiting for. He kicked Lyn in the stomach, sending her flying and causing her to drop her sword. Before anyone could do anything, he stepped on the sword, snapping its fragile blade, then dashed towards Lyn, intending to finish her off.

"Stop him!" Vesper yelled, but Sain and Kent were too far away to do anything.

For Lyn, time seemed to slow down. She could see Glass charging towards her, a look of victory on his face. She could see Vesper, still glowing blue and shouting orders. She could see Sain and Kent dashing to protect her. She knew she had to do something, but she couldn't roll away. Suddenly she felt a sword handle in her hand. She didn't know where it came from, or what it was, but she knew she had to use. It wasn't until she'd sliced Glass's sword in half, and him along with it, that she realised she'd just drawn the legendary sword, the Mani Katti.

* * *

"Hah, is that so?" The old priest grinned. "I never thought I'd meet the true wielder of the Mani Katti, at least not in my lifetime."

After Lyn had beaten Glass, the final bandit had entered the altar, to see what all the fuss was about. After seeing Glass's body, he'd screamed like a little girl and tried to run, but Sain nailed him to the wall with a well aimed javelin.

"So I really am its wielder?" This was too much for Lyn to take in. "But- But I can't be!"

"A couple of days ago, you thought you couldn't be a member of Lycian nobility." Vesper pointed out. "And now you're the wielder of a legendary sword. I'd just accept it's fate for weird, but awesome, things to happen to you."

"Indeed." The priest nodded. "I hope the sword serves you well."

"You want me to take it with us?" Lyn was flabbergastered. "But-!"

"A sword should be with it's true wielder." The priest told her. "I only wish I could come with you. But I'm too old, and there are no other priests to look after this place."

"Really?" Vesper could barely hide his disappointment. "There goes that plan."

...

"I have a feeling you didn't exactly come here to pray," Kent sighed.

"Really? What tipped you off to that?"

"This sword... is really mine?" The reality of the situation was finally sinking in for Lyn.

"Yeah, we may have mentioned that once or twice."

Lyn, on instinct, gave Vesper a thwack with the Mani Katti's scabbard.

"Ow!" Vesper rubbed his head, in pain. "Did you just hit me with a legendary sword?"

"Yeah." Lyn finally accepted it. "I guess I did."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey, you remember how I said there wouldn't be a new chapter for a while? I lied. Or, to be closer, my DS ran out of power on Pokemon Conquest, so I lost tons of data which I can't be bothered to redo at the moment. So more Fire Emblem! Yey!**_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_"Vesper... Vesper..." The voice whispered to Vesper, with a dream-like tinge. He'd had this sensation once before, in the middle of his training. His teacher claimed it was a 'long-range' psychic connection._

_"Teacher, is that you?" Vesper yelled._

_"Beware them... Beware the Black Fang..." The voice warned, ignoring his question._

_"Who are the Black Fang?" Vesper asked._

_"Beware... Beware... Beware..._ Beware of that branch!"

Vesper broke out of his stupor, just in time for a tree branch to whack him in the face, and knock him off his horse.

"Owowowow!" he cried, clutching his face.

"I did warn you." Lyn shrugged.

"Hah! Serves him right!" Sain laughed. "What idiot falls asleep while on a horse?"

"What about that time during basic training?" Kent pointed out. "You remember, when you accidently rode into the food court and-"

"Okayokayokay!" Sain motioned for him to shut up. "Not in front of Lyn! She doesn't need to know about the Salad Face incident!"

"Stop arguing, you two." Lyn decided to ask Kent more about this 'Salad Face', when Sain wasn't around. "Anyway Vesper, are you okay?"

"Everything's going purple." Vesper groaned. "I can only assume that's a good sign."

"Uh... yeah." Lyn helped the injured Vesper back onto his horse. "How long until we reach the next village?"

"Not too long." Kent reassured her. "We came through on our way here and it's a very nice place."

"Ah yes." Sain reminisced. "Fine food, comfortable beds and the most beautiful women!... Of course, they were nothing compared to you, my darling Lyndis."

"Yeah, whatever." Lyn had quickly managed to adapt to Sain's 'passionate' nature. "So it's a nice place, Kent?"

Kent grinned. "The nicest."

* * *

"W-What the hell is this?" Kent gasped. "We were here only a few days ago!"

The 'nice' village, Kent and Sain remembered so fondly, had been reduced to little more than smouldering rubble.

"It looks like a bandit attack." Vesper muttered, getting off his horse for a better look. "But I don't know any that could do this much damage, in such a short amount of time."

"I do." Lyn was shaking with rage. "The Taliver Bandits."

"Oh no." Vesper sighed. "You mean-?"

"-The ones who slaughtered my clan? Yes." Lyn's face was a picture of fury. "Can we track them down? They can't be far away!"

Kent considered it. "Well I suppose-"

"No." Vesper's answer was short and clear. "We're not going after them."

"Those monsters killed my parents!" Lyn yelled at Vesper. "They need to be stopped!"

"Yes, they do." Vesper agreed calmly. "But not by us. Not now."

"Why not?" Lyn growled.

"They managed to raze an entire village to the ground in a couple of days." Vesper pointed out. "And there are only three fighters here. You'd only be sending us to our deaths."

"Fine." Lyn jumped off her horse. "I'll go myself."

"And throw your life away?"

"Um, guys..." Sain attempted to cut in. "Do you hear the sound of horses galloping?"

Vesper listened carefully. Sain was right. There were horses coming this way.

"It could be the bandits." He realised. "Prepare yourselves."

Lyn drew the Mani Katti, and Sain and Kent steadied their horses while Vesper retreated to a safer distance. The galloping slowly got louder and louder and louder until it was almost upon then and... nothing was there.

"Huh, that was anti-climatic." Vesper came out from behind his hiding place. "I wonder what that was all ab-"

"Vesper, look out!" Lyn yelled, spotting the shadow overhead.

"Huh?" Vesper looked up, but was too late to avoid the several tons of pegasus landing on top of him.

"Ow..." He winced, under the creature's hooves. "Somebody get this thing off!"

"Whoa there!" Kent and Sain tried to calm the frightened pegasus, but they seemed to be making it panic more, continuing to trample the poor Vesper. But for some reason, the creature calmed down when Lyn went near it, and she was able to lead it off the stricken tactician.

"Are you okay?" Kent asked.

"I think I dislocated my spine..."

"You'll be fine." Sain grinned. "I can't believe we came across a wild pegasus! Those things are really rare!"

"I don't think it's a wild pegasus." Lyn patted the creature's back. "There's a saddle here. It must belong to a Pegasus knight."

"Oh, a Pegasus knight!" Sain suddenly got a dreamy look on his face. "I've heard that only the most beautiful women can become one! That must be why the pegasus was so calm around you, my darling Lyn. And why it trampled Vesper!"

"Hey, there's an F engraved in the saddle!" Kent noticed. "Does that mean anything to anyone?"

"Florina!" Lyn gasped.

"Who?"

"She's an old friend of mine." Lyn explained. "She's a Pegasus Knight in Ilia. This must be her pegasus. But where is she? I hope she isn't in any danger."

Suddenly, they heard the sound of footsteps behind them.

"There it is!" Someone yelled, and 4 men came running into view. They seemed surprised to see the group and froze on the spot.

"Who are you?" Lyn growled, pointing the Mani Katti.

"Um... just passerbys!" The first man explained. "That pegasus belongs to us."

"No it doesn't." Lyn explained. "It belongs to my friend, Florina. Now what have you done with her?"

The men looked uncomfortably at each other, before drawing their weapons.

"Alright, we'll do it that way." Lyn leapt forward and, in a magnificent stroke, sliced through the first 3 men with the Mani Katti. The fourth froze before sprinting off the way he came.

"Stop him!" Vesper ordered. "But don't kill him."

"Too late." The young, brown-haired boy who'd been hiding near Vesper, jumped out and lauched a single arrow from his bow, which flew straight into the back of the retreating man, killing him instantly.

"Who the hell are you?" Vesper jumped back in surprise.

"I'm Wil!" The boy grinned. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Vesper grinned back. "Wait, what am I doing? Why did you shoot that guy? We need him to find out where Florina is!"

"You mean the Pegasus girl?" Wil piped in. "I know where she is!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, she got caught by those bandits." Wil explained. "You better hurry if you want to rescue her. I'll take you to the bandit base. Come on!" He sprinted off through the ruined village, Lyn, Sain and Kent following him.

"W-Wait!" Vesper yelled after them. "We need to plan a strategy!..."

They were already gone.

"This isn't going to end well." Vesper groaned, before chasing after them.

* * *

Florina gave a shriek as the axe flew past her head, embedding itself into the wall behind her. The bandits had tied her to a pole, and were now taking it in turns to lob hand-axes at her.

"That was a close one!" One of the bandits sniggered. "My turn next!"

He picked up a hand-axe and aimed it at the terrified girl, however, before he could throw it, his hand was knocked aside by the bandit leader, Migel.

"What the 'ell are you lot doing?" He yelled. "Don't be damaging precious merchandise!"

"You're no fun..." The bandit grunted. "We weren't actually gonna hit her."

"Yeah, well you guys don't exactly 'ave the best aim." Migel growled, removing the hand-axes from the wall.

"P-P-P-Please l-let me go..." The terrified Florina sobbed. "I'm r-r-really sorry for landing on you."

"'Fraid not sweetie." Migel gave a malicious grin. "Your flyin' mule caused me a lot of pain, so I think it's only fair you make it up to me. Shame the damn thing got away though, it's worth a lot more than you. But I suppose I can still make a pretty penny, though."

From their hiding place, nearby, Lyn, Sain, Kent and Wil, who'd recently been given the tacticians mark, listened in to the horrible conversation. From further away, Vesper, in tactician mode, and Florina's pegasus listened in to them listening in to the conversation.

"Let's go in and cut them down." Lyn growled, drawing the Mani Katti. "There are only 5 of them."

_"Not while they have Florina." _Vesper stopped. _"They'll just use her as a hostage."_

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Lyn snapped. "I won't forgive them for how they're treating Florina."

_"We use the same plan we used at the church." _Vesper decided. _"They want the pegasus more than Florina, so we have it pass by them and, while they're chasing it, we rescue Florina and get out of here."_

"What about the pegasus?"

_"I'm sure it'll be fine."_ Vesper shrugged. _"It's not like it's a valuable part of the war eff-Ow!"_

"What is it?" Lyn was afraid Vesper might've been ambushed.

_"The damn horse kicked me!"_

"Never mind then." Lyn sighed. "Look, that pegasus is really important to Florina and she'd be crushed if anything happened to it. Do you have any other plans?"

_"Well the pegasus is too uncontrollable for us to be able to use it to lure the bandits into an ambush, so what else could we..." _Vesper had a sudden idea. _"Maybe we could... No, Wil probably isn't good enough."_

"I'm not probably good enough for what?" Wil asked.

_"Well..."_ Vesper explained his plan to the group.

"That... is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Kent groaned. "There's no way he could do something like that!"

"Well..."

"We're not putting Florina's life at risk in such a stupid way!" Lyn agreed.

"But I..."

_"I didn't say it was a good idea!" _Vesper pointed out.

"Look, I'll do it!" Wil yelled, suddenly. "I think I can make a shot like that!"

"You think?"

"I _know_ I can make a shot like that. " Wil repeated. "Anyway, it's not like we have a better plan."

_"He's got a point." _Vesper admitted. _"Lyn, it's your decision. Should we or shouldn't we?"_

Lyn thought a moment.

"Alright, we'll do it." She finally decided. "But Wil, you'd better not miss."

"I won't."

* * *

"Nah, I'm tellin' ya, olive oil is only way to get that real shine."

"I dunno, I've heard bacon grease is just as good, especially for long hair."

The two bandits were interrupted when an arrow skimmed passed Florina, lightly cutting her arm, and landed right in front of them. Naturally, they all started screaming.

"What is it! An enemy attack?" Migel ran over.

"I dunno!" One of the bandits yelled. "This arrow just flew out of nowhere!"

"Look, there's a bit of paper attached." The other bandit pointed out, picking it up. Florina, meanwhile, was still screaming.

"Give me that!" Migal snatched the paper at began to read it. "And shut that girl up! Her screaming's gettin' on my nerves!"

"S-S-Sorry!" Florina stuttered. "I'll be quiet!"

"Alright then." Migel turned to read the letter.

**Dear Bandits.**

**We have the pegasus. **

**However, we'll be willing to make a trade for the girl. **

**Bring her to the destroyed village square.**

**Anonymous.**

"Who the heck is this 'Anonymous' bastard?" Migel roared. "How dare he makes demands of me!"

"Maybe it's the real Taliver bandits!" One of the bandits shuddered.

"Nah, if it was them they'd just kill us and take the girl by force." Migel explained. "It's just some cocky bastard who thinks he can cut into our profits!"

"So we won't do the deal he's offering?"

"No, we'll do it." Migel admitted. "But I won't be happy about it..."

* * *

Several minutes later, and the bandit gang was ready to head to the village square, with the captive Florina.

"Keep movin', you bastards!" Migel grinned. "I can't wait to get my hands on that pegasus. Imagine how much it'll sell for!"

Throughout the journey, Florina had remained oddly silent when, suddenly, she sprinted forward, out of the bandits grasp, and jumped into a disused well.

"Where do you think you're going?" Migel snorted, heading towards the well. "You can't escape that way, girlie!"

He leaned over the well to find the pegasus knight when, to his very brief surprise, a lance shot out of the well and impaled his head.

At the bottom of the well, Sain cut the surprised Florina free of her bonds, while Lyn and Kent charged the remaining bandits.

Meanwhile, a short distance away, Vesper grinned.

_"Just as planned."_

* * *

**Several minutes earlier**

_"Take your time Wil." _Vesper instructed. _"The entire plan comes down to this shot."_

"I know." Wil gritted his teeth. "But the weight of the arrow makes it awkward to aim. You sure you don't have a smaller ceremonial dagger I could tie to this thing?"

_"If I did, I'd give it to you." _Vesper sighed. _"Now I need you to scratch Florina lightly on the arm, or something, so I can form the contract with her. But don't actually hit her. Got it?"_

"It'd be easier to do if you'd stop yabbering in my ear." Wil winced.

When Wil was finally satisfied with his aim, he loosed the arrow. It flew across, lightly scratching Florina's arm and landed in front of two bandits, who were discussing hair products for some reason.

_"Wil, you beauty!" _Vesper grinned, before reaching out to Florina. _"Florina, can you hear me?"_

Florina reacted the way most people would to an unfamiliar voice sounding in their head. By screaming.

_"Ssshhh!" _Vesper tried to shut her up. _"I'm a friend of Lyn's! We've hatched a plan to get you out, but we need you to be quiet and listen."_

"S-S-Sorry!" Florina stuttered, inadvertedly answering to Migel as well. "I'll be quiet!"

_"Good. Now in a few moments, the bandits are going to move you to the village square." _Vesper explained._ "On the way there, there should be an old, dilapidated well. When I give the signal, jump dow there. There'll be someone in there to catch you. If you understand, nod slightly."_

Florina nodded and, several minutes later, she was being cut free of her ropes by Sain, while Lyn and Kent was taking down the bandit troupe. After the last bandit was dead, Lyn and Kent rushed over to the well, with a small rope ladder so Sain and Florina could climb out.

"Lyn!" Florina jumped forward into Lyn's embrace. "I-I-I came to find you, b-but-"

"It's alright." Lyn comforted her. "It's over now, and you can go back to Ilia."

"A-A-Actually..." Florina mumbled. "I kinda wanted to stay with you, Lyn."

"And that's why you came here?" Lyn thought a moment. "I don't know. It's gonna be pretty dangerous."

"We'd be happy to have her!" Sain grinned. "We need more beautiful women in the group, anyway."

Florina let out a short whimper, at the sound of Sain's voice, before scurrying behind Lyn.

"Florina's a bit shy with men." Lyn explained, before turning back to Florina. "Don't worry, that's just Sain. If you ignore him, eventually he'll leave you alone."

"Hey guys!" Vesper, Wil and the pegasus came into view.

"Huey!" Florina squeled at the sight of her pegasus, and she ran to embrace her faithful steed.

"Wil, that was an amazing shot!" Lyn exclaimed.

"Well thanks!" Wil scratched the back of his head, blushing. "It was mostly luck."

"Don't I get a bit of appreciation?" Vesper sulked.

"You helped a little." Lyn grinned. "By the way, Florina's wanting to travel with us."

"Absolutely not." Vesper proclaimed. "I don't let pegasus's travel with me."

"You're fine with horses." Lyn pointed out.

"Yeah, but horses don't hate me."

"You're overreacting." Wil sighed. "Besides, I think it'll be fun to have Florina travel with us."

"Us? Since when did you become a member of this group?"

"Well, I've nowhere else to go." Will explained. "So I figured I'd join you guys. Is that okay?"

"Well yes, but-"

"Then it's settled!" Sain cheered. "Florina and Wil are the newest members of Lyndis's Legion! Together, we'll ride to Caelin!"

"Why won't someone listen to me?" Vesper wailed.

Little did the group know that, not far away, a lone bandit was spying on them.

"You thought you'd given us the slip at that mountain pass, did you?" He grinned. "Well now we've found you, Lady Lyndis, and you're not getting away this time!"


	6. Chapter 6

_**WhizKidHV: I will admit the whole 'psychic connection' was kinda shoe-horned in because I was having a lot of trouble starting the chapter, but I have some plans for it. As for commas... yeah, I have a habit of seriously overusing them. It'd be probably be easier if I was just allowed to put one in between each word...**_

_**Anyway, to be perfectly honest, I don't like this chapter that much. Naturally, seeing as I wrote it, I consider it ungodly ingenious and better than anything else written in the English language, but it was one of those ideas that seemed better in my head, than down on paper. It also reminded me that I can't write description very well. The next chapter will make up for it, though. Erk is a really fun character to write for, as is another character who I won't mention for now...**_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"I don't like it." Kent muttered.

"Why not?" Vesper sighed. "It's large, warm and easy to defend if we're attacked in the night."

It was getting dark so, after dropping the horses off at a nearby stable, the group had decided to look for shelter. While searching, Florina had come upon a large, abandoned castle. Everyone had naturally accepted it as a great place to stay, but Kent seemed quite anxious, for some reason.

"You're not scared are you?" Sain grinned. "You used to be quite superstitious back in the day..."

Kent gave a sudden shudder, to show Sain he was right on the mark.

"D-D-Don't be ridiculous!" Kent stuttered. "T-There's no such thing as ghosts!"

"Really?" Wil teased. "So I'm sure you'll be fine keeping guard tonight? In the dark? Alone?"

"Stop teasing him, you two." Lyn sighed. "We don't have to stay here if you don't want to, Kent."

"No, I'm fine staying here!" Kent grumbled, turning bright red. "I just... wanted to be careful."

"Sure you did." Vesper winked. "Anyway, we'd better get in quick. I think it's starting to rain."

Sain and Wil slowly pushed open the large, wooden doors of the castle, to reveal a grand, but dusty hall. At the very centre of the hall, there was an even grander, stone staircase. On either the side of the staircase were two ancient, rusting suits of armour.

"You know, these remind me of a really good ghost story I once heard." Wil muttered, examining the armour.

"I'd be careful." Vesper advised. "Those don't look very stable."

As if to prove him right, one of the arms of the armour suddenly fell to the floor with a loud *crash*, making everyone jump slightly.

"Now can we get out of here?" Kent shivered.

"Don't be such a wimp." Vesper began to climb the large, stone staircase. "Looks like there are two, large bedrooms. We'd be best off staying in the same room, so should we take the one on the left, or right?"

Lyn thought a moment. "We'll take the right bedroom."

The group slowly headed up towards the bedroom. Outside, it had begun raining quite heavily, and thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Good thing we found this place." Lyn muttered. "I'd hate to be stuck outside in this weather."

"That's funny. There was a lightning storm in that ghost story I heard, too..." Wil remembered.

"P-Please don't mention ghost stories!" Kent shivered.

"What's the matter Kent?" Sain joked. "Afraid the ghosts will come to get you?"

"S-Shut up!" Kent snapped. "There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Quiet you two!" Vesper suddenly interrupted. "I just heard something inside that bedroom."

"Don't you start." Lyn sighed. "It's bad enough Sain and Wil teasing Kent without you..."

The look on Vesper's face told Lyn he was perfectly serious. She drew her sword and signalled for the others to do the same. Slowly and cautiously, Vesper opened the door to reveal...

"There's nothing here!" Sain scoffed.

He was right. There wasn't a soul to be seen. There wasn't even a bed someone could hide under. There was just a couple of dusty barrels tucked away in the corner.

"Are you sure you didn't just imagine it, or something?" Lyn suggested.

"No, I definetly heard something." Vesper took a cautious step into the room and-

*creak*

Vesper jumped slightly, but it was only the floorboards.

"I guess that explains it." He shrugged. "These floorboards are so old they'd react to the slightest movement."

"Are you sure they're safe to step on?" Lyn wondered, cautiously moving into the room.

"They should be fine, provided you don't jump up and down a lot."

"So there's nothing in here after all?" Kent chuckled, relieved. "That's good to kn-"

*achoo!*

"Gwaaah!" Kent jumped several feet in the air, before landing on a startled Florina.

"Eek!" She shrieked, grabbing hold of Sain's leg.

"Aaah!" Sain tried to kick himself free, only to lose his balance and collapse on top of Wil.

The floorboards made a horrible creaking noise and, for a second, Lyn thought they would collapse, but they held still.

"You're all pathetic." Vesper sighed, lifting the lid of one of the barrels, the source of the sound, to reveal a young woman hiding inside.

"S-Sorry about that." The woman shuddered. "This dust just makes me- *achoo!*"

* * *

"So... you're not a ghost?" Kent confirmed, still slightly suspicious.

"N-No." The woman, Natalie, explained. "I was staying in this castle, for shelter, when I heard you coming. I thought you might've been bandits, so I hid in this barrel."

"But what are you doing out here?" Vesper asked.

"I'm looking for my husband." Natalie explained. "He disappeared a few weeks ago. He said he was going off to find some money, but I haven't heard anything from him since. I don't suppose you've seen him? Here, I have a sketch!"

She pulled out a scrap of old, weathered paper and passed it around. Lyn, Kent, Sain, Florina and Wil didn't think they'd seen him, but as the paper reached Vesper, Lyn thought she saw the slightest hint of recognition cross his face.

"I haven't seen him either." Vesper passed the paper back to Natalie.

"Oh..." Natalie looked disappointed. Suddenly, her disappointment turned to a look of pain, and she grasped her leg tightly.

"What's wrong?" Lyn ran over to check on her.

"It's... nothing." Natalie attempted to grin. "Climbing in and out of that barrel wasn't exactly good for my leg."

"Your leg?" Vesper ran over and slowly pulled Natalie's trouser leg up. "Oh, that's nasty..."

In Lyn's eyes, it looked like Natalie's leg was rotting. It had turned an odd greeny-purple colour, and the skin was heavily wrinkled.

"It's from a childhood sickness." Natalie explained. "It's not normally as bad as this, but..."

"I know." Vesper grimaced. "My teacher once showed me a village plagued by this disease. Most of the residents were either permanently crippled, or dead."

"Plagued?" Wil turned white. "Does that mean it's contagious?"

"Don't be so insensitive." Kent, who had calmed down a bit, gave Wil a small smack. "If it was, how did her husband survive?"

"It's only infectious if it's in the early stages." Vesper explained. "So you're not going to die."

"Oh, okay." Wil calmed down. "Can I touch it?"

"No!"

Lyn, meanwhile, had turned green and was gagging a bit.

"Sorry..." She groaned. "I'm not feeling that good. Could someone come outside with me?"

"My darling, Lyn, I would be honoured to-"

"Yeah, not you." Lyn pushed Sain aside.

"I guess I could look after you." Vesper shrugged. "I know some good techniques for settling nausea."

"Settling nausea, eh?" Sain looked suspicious. "You know, I think I'd best come with you, just in case you-"

"No."

Lyn practically dragged Vesper outside until, after being sure they weren't being listened to, she confronted him.

"Where did you see Natalie's husband?" She asked. "Don't lie. You definitely recognised him."

"You're not really feeling ill are you?" The look on Lyn's face told Vesper she wasn't joking around. "Alright, I'll tell you. Remember that group of bandits who attacked us on the mountain path, where we met Sain and Kent?"

Lyn thought back. Come to think about it, one of the bandits near the back did look very much like the person in the sketch...

"He was there?" She gasped.

"Yep." Vesper nodded. "The disease Natalie has requires a lot of money for treatment. What quicker way to get money than by joining a bandit group?"

"We can't tell Natalie about this." Lyn grimaced. "The idea that her husband joined a group of filthy bandits would devastate her."

"I know." Vesper agreed. "Anyway, you feeling well enough to go back in now?"

"Not really." Lyn sighed. "If anything I feel worse..."

* * *

_"And when he opened the door, there was the suit of armour, moving towards him!" _Wil screamed, making everyone jump, except Vesper, Lyn and Kent, who was curled up in the corner with his hands over his ears. _"It let out a banshee-like scream and tore the young boy to pieces!"_

"I-Is that true?" The horribly naive Florina stuttered.

"Yup." Wil nodded, solemly. "Nobody ever saw the young boy again."

"If nobody saw the boy again, then how did they learn the story?" Vesper pointed out the obvious plot-hole.

"Obviously the boy's spirit contacted them from beyond the grave." Wil shrugged.

"What a load of-"

"Enough with the ghost stories!" Lyn interrupted. "You're scaring Florina. And you've possibly traumatised Kent."

"There's no such thing as ghosts there's no such thing as ghosts!" Kent repeated to himself, huddled in the corner.

"B-B-But there's some suits of armour downstairs!" Florina remembered. "What if they're haunted?"

Lyn gave Wil a glare, before turning to comfort Florina. "Don't worry. It's just a story."

"C-Could we go down to make sure?" Florina asked.

"That's a good idea." Vesper agreed. "Lyn, you and Florina go downstairs and check for enemies... or ghosts. The rest of us can stay here and look after Natalie. Kent, do you want to go too?"

"There's no such thing as ghosts there's no such thing as ghosts!"

"Thought not."

After a brief inspection, Florina was satisfied the suits of armour weren't haunted. Lyn, on the other hand, was suspicious. Something about the hall seemed slightly different, she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Her thoughts were interrupted by a large crash. Florina had prodded one of the suits of armour a little too hard and it had collapsed, spilling pieces all over the floor.

"S-S-Sorry!" Florina gasped.

"It's alright." Lyn comforted her. "We'd better clean this mess up though. Some of this armour has sharp edges and it'd be bad if anyone trod on it."

Florina and Lyn gathered up the armour and managed to shove it into a small cupboard, before heading back upstairs.

"We heard a loud crash." Vesper muttered, reading a book. "Was the armour haunted after all?"

"No, Florina just knocked it over by accident." Lyn explained. "And there was no-one else about."

"Nice to know that this mansion isn't haunted after all then."

Suddenly, there was a large *crash* from downstairs, making everyone jump.

"What was that?" Wil gasped.

"A gust of wind probably just knocked something over." Vesper guessed, although he seemed quite shaken. "Lyn and Florina didn't see anyone so-"

"Quiet!" Lyn snapped. "Do you hear that?"

Everyone quietened down and soon they could hear what Lyn was taking about. From downstairs, an eerie, banshee-like cry could be heard...

"What kind of gust of wind can make a noise like that?"

* * *

"I really don't like this." Lyn muttered.

After a few minutes of arguing and rock, paper, scissors, Lyn, Wil and Sain had agreed to go downstairs to find the source of the noise. When they got downstairs, they saw the armour that Lyn and Florina had locked in the cupboard, scattered all over the floor, with the cupboard door wide open. They decided to take the remnants of the armour back upstairs for Vesper and the others to examine. And, on the off chance it was haunted, at least they could keep an eye on it.

"It's not haunted. "Vesper sighed. "There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Then how do you explain the armour getting out of the cupboard on its own?" Lyn pointed out. "We checked the door. It didn't just break and scatter the armour everywhere. It was opened by hand."

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation!"

"Like what?"

"Hey, this armour's pretty neat." Sain grinned, trying to break the mood. "I wonder if it'll still fit me."

"It looks a bit too small to fit you." Vesper pointed out. "I wouldn't try-"

It was too late. Sain had already jammed the rusty, old helmet onto his head, where it had gotten stuck.

"Uh, little help here?" He asked, trying to pull it off.

"..."

Suddenly, another crash could be heard from downstairs.

"What now?" Vesper groaned.

"We'll check it out." Lyn grabbed her sword.

"Wait!" Kent interrupted. "I... want to come with you!"

"But-"

"I promise I won't get scared." Kent vowed. "A Knight of Caelin should be able to overcome fears like this."

Lyn thought a moment. "Fine. Sain, you come too."

Lyn, Kent and Sain, who still had the helmet stuck on tight, headed back towards the main hall. But as they headed down the staircase, they saw it...

Standing in the ghostly moonlight, was the second suit of armour. And it was moving!

"My God..." Lyn gasped.

That slightest noise was enough to get the armour's attention and, letting out the same ghastly wail they had heard downstairs, it turned towards them and stuck out its hand. Immediately, the air in front of Sain, who was at the front of the group, ignited and he was sent flying by a small explosion of fire. Lyn and Kent picked up the dazed Sain and carried him back to the bedroom. They could hear the armour following them, making a *clank* noise everytime it took a step.

"So what was it?" Vesper asked, as the three burst into the bedroom.

"A ghost." Lyn panted, trying to get her breath back.

"Are you serious?" Vesper questioned, but Lyn wasn't the type to joke about these things. "What did you see?"

"I-I'm not too sure." Kent admitted. "All I remember was seeing the suit of armour moving, then a large fireball, or something, hit Sain and we ran back up here.

"We need to board up the room." Lyn decided. "It's heading this way!"

"With what?" Wil pointed out. "All we've got are a couple of barrels."

"Well, we need to do something!" Lyn yelled "We don't have much time! Listen!"

The group fell silent, and soon they could hear the ghostly clanks of the armour making its way towards the bedroom.

"Vesper, do you have a plan?" Lyn asked.

"Not against a ghost I don't!" Vesper thought a moment. "Um... Okay let's try this..."

A couple of minutes later, and everyone was ready. They could hear the clank of the armour getting slowly closer and closer. They heard it put its ghostly arm on the door handle and push the door open with a creak.

Then Kent smashed it over the head with a lance.

Much to the group's surprise, it seemed to have quite a large effect on the ghost, who slowly toppled to the ground. The group jumped on it to keep it still. Suddenly, the loud banshee-like shriek could be heard again, but it wasn't coming from the armour. It was coming from a young, pink-haired girl standing in the doorway.

"Get away from Erk!" She screamed, hitting Sain over the head with what seemed to be a healing stave.

"Serra, get back!" The suit of armour yelled.

"Huh?" Vesper pulled off the armours helmet to reveal a young, purple haired man underneath. "What the hell is going on?"

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, the bandits, who had been tracking Lyn, watched the castle with great interest, while under the the cover of several trees.

"And you're sure they all went in there?" The bandit leader checked with one of his scouts.

"I'm sure about it." The scout nodded. "A young couple also went in a few minutes after them."

"I see." The bandit leader turned to a small group who he had selected to go into the castle. "You boys know the drill. While they're asleep, creep in silently and butcher the girl without waking her guards. Bring back a souvenir, so we can prove her death. If you fail, then the rest of us go in and slaughter the lot of them. Understand?"

"Yes sir!" The bandits grin. Well, all except one.

"Will we get paid after this job?" Dorchas asked, in a quiet voice.

"As much as you want!" The bandit leader chuckled. "We'll be paid through the roof for this job!"

"That's all I need to hear." Dorcas picked his axe up and headed towards the castle.

"Odd guy." The bandit leader shrugged. "But as long as he gets the job done, I'm fine with it."

He grinned.

"They won't leave this castle alive..."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Extra long chapter today, for the second part of this castle two-parter. I like this chapter more than the first part, mostly because Erk is an awesome character to write for. I also enjoyed writing for a certain character who appears later in this chapter. You'll know who I'm talking about. We also get our very first look at Vesper's backstory, which I'll go into more next chapter**_

_**Anyway enjoy the comedy in this chapter, because the next couple of chapters are going to be very dramatic and emotional.**_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Serra and Erk's POV- Several hours earlier**

"Hurry up Erk, I'm getting wet!" Serra wailed.

"Open the door yourself!" Erk grumbled, making his way through the rain, towards the castle.

"But I might get a splinter!" Serra complained. "Besides, you're my escort, you should be doing the menial labour."

"'You just have to escort a young lady to Ostia, Erk.' 'It'll be easy, Erk.'" Erk muttered to himself. "In what universe would _she_ be considered a lady?"

"Erk, I'm waiting!"

"Yeah yeah," Erk finally reached the castle door and slowly pushed it open. "There, now are you happy?"

"Well, you took your time about it." Serra sighed. "I'm soaking."

"You wouldn't be if you had agreed to stay at that inn like I suggested." Erk pointed out.

"That place was flithy and rat-infested." Serra scoffed. "A fine lady of my standing needs a much nicer place to stay."

Erk considered mentioning that he had met drunkards who were more 'fine ladies' than she was, but he decided against it.

"We should check the castle for intruders first." Erk suggested.

"Go ahead if you want to." Serra shrugged. "But you're not dragging me around a grotty old castle with you."

"Serra, don't be a-"

"Ooh! Look at this!" Serra ran over the the old, rusting armour. "This reminds me of a really good ghost story I once heard..."

"I really don't care." Erk headed up the staircase. "There are two bedrooms. Should we take the left or the right?"

Serra thought a moment. "I'll take the left and you can have the right."

"I think we should stay in the same room." Erk decided. "There could be bandits hiding about."

"You'll come up with any excuse to stay in the same room as me." Serra winked.

Erk considered mentioning that he'd rather stay in a room with a group of pigs covered in their own fieces than stay with her, but he decided against it.

"Don't just stand there gawping, come on!" Serra yelled. "My bags won't carry themselves!"

"Just a few more days and you'll be rid of her." Erk muttered to himself, carrying Serra's bags upstairs after her. "Just a few more days..."

* * *

_"And when he opened the door, there was the suit of armour, moving towards him!" _Serra yelled. _"It let out a banshee-like scream and tore the young boy to pieces! And the boy was never heard from again..."_

"If nobody saw the boy again, then how did they learn the story?" Erk pointed out the obvious plot-hole.

"Obviously the boy's spirit contacted them from beyond the grave." Serra shrugged.

"What a load of-"

At that moment, downstairs, Florina accidently knocked down the suit of armour, sending crashing to the floor loudly.

"Did you hear that?" Erk whispered.

"Maybe it was the ghost!" Serra gasped.

"I'm gonna go downstairs and check." Erk headed for the door.

"Stop!" Serra yelled, grabbing hold of him. "You can't go down there! If you die, who'll carry my luggage!"

"...And that's supposed to convince me not to go and myself killed?"

While Lyn and Florina were tidying the armour away, Serra and Erk were deciding what their plan would be, or at least who would carry Serra's bags if Erk died. After agreeing that one of the nearby villagers would likely carry them for her, Erk and Serra headed downstairs, narrowly missing Lyn and Florina as they headed back to their room.

"Nothing seems to be the matter." Serra sighed, relieved. "Now let's head back."

"Wait a minute." Erk realised. "One of the suits of armour is missing."

"M-Maybe there really is a ghost!" Serra shivered.

"Don't be stupid." Erk suddenly noticed something. "Didn't that cupboard used to be open?"

Erk cautiously opened the cupboard door, only for the armour that Lyn and Florina had hidden inside it, to fall down, almost crushing him. Serra let out a long, loud, banshee-like shriek, at the sight of what seemed like a suit of armour reaching out to attack Erk. The two of them quickly ran back upstairs to the bedroom, where they could calm down and think about what they'd just seen.

"I told you there was a ghost!" Serra finally worked up the courage to say.

"T-There's no such thing as ghosts." Erk shivered.

"Then what was that?"

"I don't know! Maybe... someone shoved all the armour into that cupboard and it just happened to fall out when I opened it.

"That's ridiculous."

"The only way we can be sure is if we go back down and check." Erk decided.

"I'm not going back down there!" Serra gasped. "What if there really is a ghost?"

"Fine, I'll leave you here." Erk shrugged, heading out the door.

"W-Wait!" Serra paused a moment, before chasing after Erk.

* * *

"This is really creepy." Erk shivered. "That suit of armour was definitely here a moment ago."

Little did the two know that only a minute ago, Lyn, Wil and Sain had already cleared up the armour and taken it upstairs.

"I have an idea!" Serra suddenly grinned.

"And I now have a feeling of impending doom."

"Why don't you try putting on this other suit of armour?" Serra suggested, picking up the helmet and trying to jam it onto Erk's head. "Maybe you'll trick the ghost into thinking you're a ghost too!"

"That doesn't make sense!" Erk batted the helmet away, only for it to knock into the second suit of armour, which promptly fell over with a loud crash. Upstairs, Erk could hear the sound of a door opening, as Lyn, Sain and Kent slowly began to make their way to the hall.

"Serra, help me get this armour on!" Erk hissed, grabbing the remnants of the old armour.

"Told you it was a good plan!" Serra grinned, helping Erk attach the breastplate.

"It's not like we've got a better one." Erk groaned.

Just as Serra managed to get the helmet on, Erk turned and saw it at the top of the staircase. It was the first suit of armour. Erk recognised it by the helmet, but the rest of the armour had taken on a sickly green glow. Had Erk looked a little harder, he'd have seen Lyn and Kent hiding behind Sain.

Next to him, Serra began screaming again, so Erk raised his hand and shot a fireball at the armour, knocking it down. He attempted to chase after it, but the armour he was wearing slowed him down. He chased it down to the bedroom on the right, when-

* * *

"-We bashed you over the head with a lance." Vesper finished.

"Exactly." Erk nodded.

"Well, does that answer everyone's questions?" Vesper sighed. "I can't believe you were all taken in by this whole 'ghost' hysteria."

"What about you, Mr 'I don't have any plans to fight Ghosts'?" Lyn pointed out.

"Admittedly, I may have gotten a bit overexcited..."

"So there really weren't any ghosts?" Kent summed up, relieved.

"Pfft, I never thought there were any ghosts in the first place." Serra scoffed. "I just decided to play along, since Erk seemed so frightened."

"Yeah, your desperate screaming was very convincing." Wil joked.

"How dare you!" Serra gasped. "Erk, I demand you duel this man to defend my honor."

"What honor?"

"Have no worries, my lady!" Sain sprang to attention. "As a Knight of Caelin, I cannot allow such insults to go unpunished! Have at you!"

"Hey, watch where you're swinging that sword!"

"I feel like I'm watching a bad comedy routine." Vesper sighed. "At least we don't have to deal with any bloody ghosts."

"To be honest, I kinda miss the ghosts compared to this." Lyn chuckled, ducking slightly to avoid Sain's wild swings.

"Um... Lyn...?" Florina tried to interrupt.

"What is it?" Lyn asked.

"I-I think there's someone outside..." Florina explained. "I heard something out there..."

"Not again!" Vesper sighed, opening the bedroom door and striding into the corridor. "Look, there's nothing out ther- Gaaah!"

Vesper suddenly ducked, narrowly avoiding the hand-axe that had been thrown at his head. He desperately scrambled back inside the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"There's something out there!" He panted. "And I don't think it's a ghost!"

* * *

"Okay, make the hole a little more to the right." Vesper signalled to Lyn.

After Vesper had spotted them, the bandits had given up on their stealth approach and had instead decided to try and bash the door down. However, together the group had managed to keep the door shut, so the bandits had given up and were just waiting outside for the group to make a move. In the meanwhile, Vesper had made a contract with Erk, Natalie and an unwilling Serra, so he could keep contact with them. However, with Natalie's leg the way it was, there was no way they were going to be able to to get out the castle without abandoning her. Their only choice was to try and defend the castle until they had a chance to escape. But first, they needed to know how many enemies they were facing. And for that, Vesper had to activate his tactician mode.

"Now! Vesper ordered.

Lyn stuck the Mani Katti through the door, making a small hole, before pulling it back out again. There was a sound of surprise on the other side of the door, which quickly quieted down as the bandits took a closer look at what had happened.

"Wil, you ready?" Vesper asked.

"Yup." Wil grinned, drawing his bow. "Just need to wait for one poor sucker to take the bait."

Wil had his bow trained on the small hole Lyn had just made. No matter how dumb, or smart, the bandits were, eventually one of them would decide to take a look through that hole, then-

*thwang*

Wil's arrow shot through the door, impaling the unlucky bandit through the eye. There were screams of terror on the other side. Immediately, Vesper activated his tactician mode.

"Here's the situation." He explained to everyone in the room. "I can see about 10 bandits in this castle, 9 now that Wil's killed one. 3 of them are currently waiting outside our door, while the remaining 6 are in the castle However, there are a larger group of bandits camped nearby and one of the group has gone off for reinforcements. We need to drive the bandits out of the castle and secure the door, before the rest of the bandits get here. Everyone understand?"

"Not really." Serra admitted.

"Close enough. Go!"

Sain and Kent kicked the door down onto the surprised bandits. In a flash, Lyn cut one in half with the Mani Katti, while Florina and Wil took care of the other two.

"They're making an escape attempt!" One of the bandits yelled. "Hold 'em off until the boss sends reinforcements!"

The rest of the bandits rushed around to block the stairs, while Lyn and the rest of the group headed towards them.

"Stand back, my darling Lyn!" Sain cried, drawing his sword before charging towards the bandits. "I shall send these vagabonds packing!"

He was then hit by a flying cupboard.

"Sain!" Lyn screamed, running over to him. Luckily, the old helmet absorbed most of the blow, smashing in the process, but Sain was still unconscious and bleeding slightly from where the splintered wood had cut him.

Downstairs, Dorcas grabbed another large object, this time a stone brick, and aimed it at Lyn. However, before he could throw it, a fireball shot through the air and struck him in the chest, sending him flying. Erk readied his spellbook for another attack but before he could fire, Lyn charged at Dorcas, intending to take revenge for Sain's injury. Before he could get to his feet, she jumped onto his chest and aimed her blade towards his throat.

_"Wait!"_ Vesper stopped her seconds before she was about to skewer Dorcas. _"Don't kill him! That's Natalie's husband!"_

"Huh...?" Lyn took a closer look. Vesper was right! "You're Dorcas?"

"How do you know my name?" Dorcas grunted, attempting to get to his feet.

"Natalie told us." Lyn explained. "She's upstairs right now."

"Natalie's upstairs...?" It took a couple of seconds for Dorcas to understand. "What's she doing here?"

"She came looking for you." Lyn admitted. "She was trying to stop you doing something stupid, like joining a bandit troupe, while you were searching for money."

"Get off him, you stupid girl!" A bandit charged at Lyn, brandishing a large axe. "We're here to take your head!"

Before Lyn could react, Dorcas threw her off his chest, got to his feet and, with a single swipe of his axe, chopped the bandit's arm off.

"W-What did you-?" The bandit whimpered, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"If Natalie's here, that changes things.." Dorcas growled. "If you see the boss again, give him a message from me. Tell him I quit."

And with that he floored the bandit with a single blow from the flat of his axe.

"Whoa..." Lyn gasped in awe.

"Girl." Dorcas turned to Lyn. "I will fight with you for this battle. But first I want to see Natalie... to apologise."

He turned to move towards the stairs, but the pain from Erk's injury hit him and he doubled over, coughing.

"Don't worry, we'll send her down." Lyn reassured him.

Around her, Kent, Florina, Erk and Wil had finished off the last of the bandits, but the rest of the troupe could be heard outside, slowly getting closer. Lyn began to close the doors and signalled to the rest of the group to find anything they could to barricade the doors with.

"Vesper, could you-?"

_"I know, I heard." _Vesper turned to Serra, the only person left in the bedroom aside from himself and Natalie. "Serra, could you help carry Natalie downstairs?"

"Carry?" Serra thought a moment. "I don't know... That sounds a lot like menial labour. Could you get Erk to do it instead?"

"Erk's busy." Vesper guessed what Erk's real reaction would be, but decided against saying it. "If you're happy being overrun by bandits then I'll call him, but if not..."

"Alright, I'll do it." Serra helped Natalie onto her back then set off towards the hall, muttering curses to herself.

"While you're there, heal Sain and Dorcas!" Vesper yelled after her.

Serra slammed the door loudly.

"What an irritating girl." Vesper muttered to himself.

"Oh, I'd very much agree." A voice answered from behind Vesper.

* * *

Vesper whirled around only to see, very briefly, what appeared to be a black cloak fluttering in the air. Then something hit him in the stomach and he was sent flying across the room. Stunned, he tried to get to his feet, but he was surprised, and terrified, to see that the blue light covering his body was going out.

"Wha- What?" Vesper tried to call out psychically to Lyn and the others, but it wasn't working.

"I must apologise for that." Vesper could now clearly see the source of the voice. He was a young man, dressed in a long black cloak, which covered most of his body. His eyes, which were a sinister yellow, fixed themselves on Vesper. "I just didn't want anyone to interrupt our little chat."

Vesper was terrified. No-one had ever been able to deactivate his Tactician mode before. He didn't even know such a thing was possible! "H-How-?"

"-Did I deactivate your Tactician mode?" The figure answered, almost mocking Vesper's own habits. "Do you really expect a fellow tactician to reveal all of his secrets?"

"Y-You're-"

"-A tactician, yes." The figure seemed to be enjoying Vesper's fear. "Does that make you scared?"

"Not really." Vesper calmed his nerves. "I'm just glad you're not a ghost. I'd never be able to live it down." He suddenly gave the figure his own glare, the ice-cold one he had given Lyn when they had first met. "Now what do you want with me?"

The figure froze for a moment, before bursting out laughing.

"You think I'm after you?" He chuckled. "How very egotistical."

"So you're after Lyn then?"

"No, no." The figure wiped away a tear of laughter. "I'm not after any of you. To be perfectly honest, I'm here completely by accident. I was looking for someone else, and I accidently mistook your energies for them. By the way, you haven't seen a young boy and girl with blue hair and red eyes, have you?"

"No." Vesper answered.

"That's a shame." The figure sighed. "In that case, you're no longer of any use. I guess I'll have to kill you now."

* * *

Back downstairs, Lyn, completely unaware of the danger facing Vesper, braced herself for the next impact.

The group had managed to shut the doors before the bandit reinforcements arrived, but the bandits weren't ones to give up easily and were currently attempting to ram the door down. It was only by the combined strength of the whole group, even the still injured Dorcas, that they'd been able to keep the door shut. But Lyn had a feeling they weren't going to last much longer.

"What should we do now, Vesper?" She muttered, but got no answer. "Vesper?"

This worried her. Vesper had never failed to reply, in the past.

She was about to head up to check on him, when another impact hit the castle doors, almost sending her flying off balance. She groaned and strengthened her position. Vesper was probably just too busy thinking about the next step of their plan to answer. Besides, with his tactician powers, there was no way anyone could sneak up on him...

* * *

"Do you really have to kill me?" Vesper questioned, backing away from the figure. "I'm not a threat to you."

"I suppose I don't have to, since I haven't told you anything important..." The figure pretended to think a moment, before crushing Vesper's slight glimmer of hope. "But I always prefer to tie up loose ends."

He clicked his fingers and two balls of shadow appeared in front of him. Before Vesper's eyes, the balls of shadow slowly morphed and changed, until they had taken on the form of two large bandits.

"What a pity." The figure sighed. "While your friends were busy fighting off the bandits, they neglected to notice two of them sneak by and, before they could do anything, they'd already hacked you to pieces. What a tragic end for the young tactician. And, of course, no-one would suspect I had anything to do with it."

"Very clever." Vesper shivered, sweating heavily.

"Isn't it just?" The figure smiled. "It really is a shame though, I was rather enjoying our little chat, although I doubt you feel quite the same. I do hope you enjoy the afterlife."

"Wait!" Vesper yelled. "Don't I at least get to know the name the name of my killer?"

The figure paused a moment. " Ephidel. Of the Black Fang."

With that, he clicked his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of black dust. Meanwhile, the two bandits sprang to life, rubbing their eyes in shock.

"How the 'ell did we get here?" The first wondered.

"I dunno." The second shrugged. "A second ago we were outside with the boss and now..."

"Hey look!" The first bandit pointed at Vesper. "Ain't that that kid who was travellin' with the girl?"

"You're right." The second grinned, drawing his axe. "I bet the boss would reward us if we brought back his head..."

The two bandits slowly moved towards the helpless Vesper.

_'Okay, don't panic'. _Vesper thought to himself, drawing his dagger. '_Maybe I can fight them off. Maybe I'm actually some sort of sword prodigy who just hasn't awoken his talents yet!'_

The first bandit smashed Vesper's hand with the flat of his axe, knocking the dagger away and probably breaking several bones in the process.

_'There goes that idea.'_ Vesper fell back in pain, desperately trying to think of something to help him get away. Suddenly, as he hit the floor, he heard a familiar *creak*.

He had an idea. It may well end up killing him, but that was nothing new.

"Wait!" He yelled, just as the first bandit was about to cut him down with an axe blow. "If you kill me now, then you'll never find the treasure!"

The bandit stopped. "What treasure?"

"You mean your boss never told you about it?" Vesper chuckled. "Why do you think he's after a young Sacaen girl, so desperately? Because we're carrying a large amount of treasure, and he wants to get his hands on it."

"Really?" The bandit lowered his axe. "And where is this 'treasure'?"

"If I tell you, will you promise to let me go?" Vesper asked.

"Sure!" The bandits lied. "Now where is it?"

"It's up there in the rafters." Vesper pointed up. "Considering how tall you guys are, you should be able to reach it, if you jump."

"Alright..." The bandits looked at Vesper suspiciously. "But if there isn't anything up there, there'll be hell to pay..."

The two bandits began jumping up and down, trying to reach the rafters. Vesper could hear the floorboards creaking beneath them and prepared himself for the inevitable impact.

"There's friggin' nothing up here!" The first bandit yelled, turning to Vesper. "What are you-?"

He saw Vesper sitting an a crash position, and heard the floorboards rumbling beneath him. He put two and two together.

"Why you-!" He charged at Vesper but it was too late. The floorboards collapsed sending Vesper and the two bandits falling to the ground below.

* * *

Downstairs, Lyn could hear the large crash coming from upstairs.

"Vesper!" She screamed, dashing back towards the bedroom.

"Lyn, what's happening?" Kent moved to chase after her, but another impact forced him to stay in his position.

* * *

Outside, the bandit leader gave a deep sigh.

"They're not gonna open up." He told his second-in-command. "If this weather keeps up, our boys'll end up freezing to death before we get in there. Tell the boys to back off and find shelter."

"Right." The second-in-command began to give the orders to retreat.

* * *

Back downstairs, Vesper attempted to remain conscious while he assessed the situation.

The first bandit was dead. Vesper was sure of this. Partially because not many people can survive a large splinter of wood impaling their head, but mostly because Vesper was currently trapped beneath his corpse. Vesper could feel blood running down his sides, although whether that was his or the bandit's wasn't yet clear. Vesper was pretty sure his leg was broken though. He couldn't actually see it, but it felt like shattered glass. Shattered glass that was on fire.

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed over him.

"You little dungball..." The second bandit groaned, clutching his arm, which was at a weird angle. "I'm gonna enjoy cutting you up."

* * *

Lyn continued to dash upstairs, praying she was in time.

* * *

Vesper continued to struggle in an attempt to escape, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He was going to die here, and there was nothing he could say or do to stop it.

_'I'm sorry Lyn." _He thought to himself. _'But this is where we part ways.'_

"Die brat!" The bandit swung his axe towards Vesper's head.

Vesper thought he had completely accepted his fate but, as the axe swung towards his head, one small thought crossed his mind.

_Saria... _

Vesper closed his eyes knowing full well that he would never open them again.

*shoom*

Vesper's eyes shot open to see another figure standing over him, wearing a long dark-green cloak. Vesper couldn't see their face, or even whether they were male or female, but there was a feeling of overwhelming darkness radiating from him. Had Vesper the energy, he would've run as fast as he could from this phantom. He seemed to have stopped the bandit's axe simply by existing.

"Who-?" The bandit never finished his sentence. The figure simply touched him and he collapsed, choking. The figure in the brown cloak gave a brief look at Vesper, before disappearing into the shadows.

The last thing Vesper saw before he finally lost consciousness was Lyn's concerned face peeping through the hole in the bedroom floor...

* * *

Vesper slowly awoke to the sound of a voice.

"He was lucky to have survived that fall." The voice muttered. "Had that splinter hit any of his vital organs I doubt even my magnificence could've saved him."

It took a couple of seconds of Vesper to recognise the voice. It was Serra.

"So he'll be okay?" A second voice asked. A more familiar one. Lyn.

"Just fine." Serra chirped, happily. "I've had to reset the bones in his arm and leg, so he'll probably have trouble using them for a while, but apart from that, he'll make a perfect recovery. We just have to wait for him to wake up now."

"One step ahead of you..." Vesper croaked weakly.

"Vesper!" Lyn threw her arms around him in relief, causing large amounts of pain from his torso.

"Owowow!" He winced.

"S-Sorry." Lyn backed away blushing. "Do you want some water?" She passed a small bowl over. "Make sure to drink it slowly or-"

"Qwaalaach!" Vesper choked, having ignored her advice a second time.

"At least you haven't changed much." Lyn chuckled.

"So where am I?" Vesper groaned.

"In that old carthorse you bought." Lyn answered. "I was against moving you, but we didn't want to risk the bandits returning. We're currently on our way to Araphen to pick up supplies."

"Oh..." Vesper pointed to Serra. "But what's she doing here? I thought she was going to Ostia."

"Hmph!" Serra sulked. "That's a fine way to talk to the person who just saved your life! I suppose if you must know, I agreed to accompany your little expedition to Caelin after one of your knights practically begged me to stay."

"I wonder who that was..." Vesper muttered sarcastically. "And Erk agreed to this?"

"He did object at first..." Serra admitted. "But for some reason, as soon as Sain volunteered to carry my bags, he was all for it."

"Oh, and Dorcas agreed to join us too." Lyn chimed in. "He felt guilty about the bandits injuring you and agreed to help. He dropped Natalie off at a nearby village first though. Speaking of..." Lyn's face took on a darker tone. "What happened to you?"

Vesper told her everything that had happened to him. About Ephidel. About the bandits. And about the mysterious cloaked figure who saved his life.

"I don't know how he did it," Vesper finished. "But I'm sure I've not seen the last of that Ephidel."

Lyn was quiet for a moment.

"Well..." She finally managed to say. "At least it wasn't a ghost."

"Of course!" Vesper grinned. "There's no such thing as-"

His mind flashed back to the dark-green cloaked figure and its malevolent presense.

"There's _probably_ no such thing as ghosts...

* * *

From the castle walls, the dark-green cloaked figure watched the carthorse ride away into the distance.

"I have completed your request, Tactician." The figure muttered under his breath. "Consider my debt paid in full."

With that, he vanished mysteriously into the sky.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the bedroom Vesper and Lyn had stayed in, the other barrel began to shake and a head with golden, spikey hair popped out.

"Phew!" The man inside sighed. "I thought they'd never leave!"

He climbed out and stretched a bit, before carefully working his way around the large hole in the middle of the floor.

"Still, I got to see a lot of interesting stuff." He shrugged. "You know, I think I'll follow those guys for a while. It might be fun."


	8. Chapter 8

**_No reviews for the last chapter? Dammit people, my ego won't stroke itself! Joking aside, this is a pretty emotional and dramatic chapter. I was also originally going to make this into a single parter, but it went on for too long, so it became another two parter. Yeyz._  
**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"_Saria, don't do it!"_

"_I'm sorry..."_

Vesper awoke with a start. That was the 2nd night in a row he'd had the dream. He was almost wishing for that 'psychic connection' thing he'd had a couple of weeks ago. He lay back down and tried to get to sleep again, although he knew he wouldn't.

"_I'm sorry..."_

* * *

"That's it!" Serra yelled, for about the third time that morning. "I quit! I'm going back to Ostia!"

"Calm down Serra." Erk sighed. "You've only been walking for about 10 minutes. And you had no problem doing it when _I_ was travelling with you."

"Yeah, but we didn't have a carthorse then." Serra pointed out. "Surely, as Vesper's doctor, I should be travelling with him 24/7!"

Serra had momentarily been booted off the carthorse as Vesper and Lyn wanted to talk to Dorcas about the bandit troupe he was with, and they wanted privacy for it. She hadn't reacted well.

"You can ride on my horse if you wish, my darling Serra!" Sain offered, in his full gentleman mode.

"No thanks." Serra sulked. "You stink of sweat and dirt."

"What?" Sain gasped, obviously hurt. "I don't really smell like that, do I Kent?"

"Well you haven't bathed for a while." Kent pointed out. "In fact, we all probably stink a bit."

"How dare I let my hygiene fall into such disarray!" Sain cried, ignoring Kent. "As soon as we get to Araphen I must try one of their public baths!"

"Hey, I'll take that lift if you're still offering!" Wil chimed in.

"I only let women ride my horse." Sain pouted.

"Jerk."

"I know!" Serra suddenly realised. "I can get a lift on Florina's pegasus. Such a majestic animal would truly suit my beauty!"

With that she ran over towards Florina and her pegasus and attempted to jump on.

"W-Wait!" Florina tried to stop her, but it was too late. The pegasus, startled, jumped up onto its hind legs, sending Florina and Serra tumbling to the ground.

* * *

Inside the cart, Vesper ignored the cries of a distressed Serra as he continued to question Dorcas.

"So you have no idea who hired you to kill Lyn?" He repeated.

"No." Dorcas admitted. "Only the boss knows and he didn't tell anyone."

"Damn..." Lyn sighed. "I thought we'd finally be able to find the culprit."

"What can you tell us about your boss?" Vesper asked. "It's always good to know your enemy."

"I don't know much about him either." Dorcas shrugged. " Very few people in the group know his real name. Most of us just call him Boss. I'll tell you this though, he's incredibly strong. Even stronger than me. I've seen him heft around a full-grown tree like it was a mere twig."

"Looks like he's one to watch out for." Vesper scratched his chin. "Thanks for the info, though."

"You're welcome." Dorcas nodded, before hopping off the moving cart.

"Do you think the bandits had anything to do with the man that attacked you?" Lyn asked.

"I doubt it." Vesper was deep in thought. "He said that he wasn't after me or you, He only used the bandits to avoid suspicion."

"Okay..." Lyn gave a worried look at Vesper. Ever since the attack, something had been different about the young tactician. He seemed much more distant and cold. "By the way, who's Saria?"

"Wha-?" Vesper jumped suddenly. "H-How do you know that name?"

"You were whispering it in your sleep." Lyn explained. "So who is she?"

"N-Nobody!" Vesper lied. "Don't mention her again!"

"Oh..."

The awkward silence was momentarily cut off by Kent's shout.

"I can see it!" He yelled. "We've finally reached Araphen!"

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Lyn asked skeptically.

"You don't need to worry." Vesper shrugged. "I have enough sense to keep out of trouble."

Vesper had crafted a walking staff out of one of Sain's old spears and intended to 'sort some tactician stuff out' on his own, while the rest of the group gathered supplies. Lyn, naturally, wasn't happy about letting the injured Vesper go around town alone.

"Perhaps I should sent Sain or Kent along with you." Lyn wondered.

"There's no need!" Vesper sighed, exasperated. "Besides, how would you like to travel around town alone with Sain?"

"You've got a point." Lyn admitted. "I'm just worried that you'll be attacked."

"In the middle of a bustling street?" Vesper pointed out. "Anyway, I doubt Ephidel will return to finish me off. He only tried to kill me because he felt he should cover his tracks and, now I've told all you lot, there's no reason he'd need to attack just me."

"I guess..." Lyn wasn't sure. "I just don't want you to get injured again."  
"You were fine with me walking about by myself before." Vesper remembered. "Why are you worrying so much now?"

"..." Lyn thought a moment, before finally deciding. "Fine, but if you're attacked, don't blame me."

"Fine." Something in the distance caught Vesper's eye and he began limping off towards it. "See you later."

"Yeah, see you." Lyn watched him hobble off into the distance. "Kent, I want you to follow him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

"Why?" Kent questioned. "He's smart enough to keep out of trouble."

"Just do it!" Lyn snapped.

"Fine." Kent dropped the supplies he was holding and began slowly heading towards where Vesper was going. "I just think you're being slightly over-protective."

"Sensible, more like it." Lyn muttered.

* * *

A couple of hours later, and all the group had gathered all the supplies they needed. Or at least all they could get their hands on.

"Is this all?" Lyn groaned, looking at the meagre pile of food, drink and supplies.

"There's some sort of food shortage going on." Erk shrugged. "We were lucky to get this much."

"This is never going to last until we reach Caelin. " Lyn pointed. "Especially if some people continue to have midnight feasts..."

"Sorry." Sain, Wil, Serra and Florina all muttered apologies.

"Perhaps you could ask the Marquess of Araphen for supplies." Erk suggested. "As the heir to Caelin, I'm sure he'd comply with your requests."

"I guess." Lyn thought a moment. "Where have Vesper and Kent gotten to?"

Ironically, just at that moment, Kent jogged into view.

"Kent, where's Vesper?" Lyn called.

"Dunno." Kent shrugged. "I saw him talking to some bearded guy, then he just vanished."  
"What?" Lyn spluttered. "You were supposed to keep an eye on him!"

"Relax, Lyn!" Kent sighed. "Like I said, Vesper's smart enough to take care of himself. He probably just spotted me trailing him and wanted to get rid of me."

"Lyn?" A nearby man with a large cloak gasped. "Lyndis of Caelin?"

"How do you know my name?" Lyn asked suspiciously.

"I have a message for you from my boss." The man sneered. "Die!"

With that, he leapt at her with a small, concealed knife. Before she could react, there was a loud *thunk* and the man fell to the ground, an arrow protruding from his back.

"What happened?" Vesper yelled, having just arrived on the scene.

"I-I don't know!" Lyn stuttered.

"I apologise for the disturbance." A nomad man suddenly rode by, on a horse. He was holding a large bow in his hands. "I saw the knife in his hands and decided to intervene."

"T-Thanks." Lyn was still shaken up. "You're a Sacean?"

"Indeed." The man bowed. "I am Rath. Captain of Marquess Araphen's elite squad of guards. You must be Lady Lyndis."

"Y-Yes." Lyn blushed a little. "How did you know?"

"I had heard the reports." Rath answered. "Marquess Araphen wishes to invite you to his castle."

"To be honest, we're kinda busy." Vesper shrugged. "Thanks to the food shortage, we've got a lot of supplies we need to pick up and-"

"Don't be rude!" Lyn gave Vesper a quick smack. "Tell the Marquess we'd be delighted, Rath."

"What was that for...?"

* * *

"What do you mean, you can't let us in?" Rath yelled.

"I'm sorry!" A soldier shouted from the battlements. "But the castle is currently under siege from bandits! We can't let anyone in!"

Rath had taken the group to the front gate of the main castle but, for some reason, all the doors had been locked.

"Bandits?" Lyn gasped. "Why would they attack Araphen?"

"Why do you think?" Vesper shrugged. "They're after you."

"Your companion is probably correct." Rath nodded.

"So what should we do?" Lyn asked.

"You should leave." Rath advised. "The bandits will follow once they hear of your departure."

"Out of the question." Vesper sighed. "We don't have nearly enough supplies to last us until the next town. Not to mention, if those bandits do come after us, we'll be able to handle them better here, with the back up of Araphen's elite guard." Vesper winked at Rath, who remained stony-faced.

"Vesper's right." Lyn decided. "We'll help you fight off the bandit attack."

"I see." Rath was silent for a moment. "There maybe something we can do."

"What is it?" Vesper asked.

"Most of the castle has been completely blocked off." Rath explained. "However, there was a secret passageway built, in case of emergencies. If we can get to it, then we can get to the castle and help fight off the bandits. However, the town is likely infested with bandits now."

"Then that's what we'll do." Vesper decided. "Rath, I'll form the tactician's contract with you, then hide over in that house there." Vesper whipped out his ceremonial dagger and made a small cut on Rath's arm.

"Sain, I want you to stay with Vesper and act as a guard." Lyn ordered.

"What?" Vesper and Sain spluttered simultaneously.

"You heard me."

"Lyn, Sain is a valuable part of your fighting force." Vesper pointed out. "You can't just waste him, guarding me!"

"I can and will." Lyn growled. "I don't want you to get attacked again, Vesper."

"I don't want you to be slaughtered, because you left one of your best troops behind!" Vesper yelled back. "With my tactician powers, I can't be snuck up on, so having someone guard me is just a waste of manpower!"

"Someone snuck up on you in that castle." Lyn pointed out.

"That's a different matter." Vesper growled. "And even if Ephidel returned, I doubt Sain could handle him!"

"I'd feel safer knowing you were being guarded properly." Lyn explained.

"I'd feel safer knowing _you _were being guarded properly!" Vesper countered. "I know you're just trying to protect me, but I don't want you to put yourself at risk in return!"

"Well, I'd rather be at risk than see you at risk!" Lyn yelled. "You... You have no idea how terrified I was at the castle. When I saw you unconscious at the bottom of that pit, I was so scared that you'd die... all because I didn't get someone to guard you..."

"**Then how do you think I feel?"**

Lyn had never seen Vesper like this before. This wasn't the normal, light-hearted Vesper she knew and loved, or even that ice-cold analytic Vesper she saw when they first met in Sacae. This was a being altogether more terrifying and terrified. Vesper's face was filled with a mixture of uncontrollable anger, and inconsolable grief. She couldn't tell whether he would start screaming with rage, or burst into tears of misery.

"How do you think it feels to order your friends into battle, knowing you could get them killed?" Vesper's voice was shaking with emotion. "How do you think it feels knowing that one wrong decision could cause everyone you've ever loved to die? Perhaps you think it's easy, sitting back and let everyone else do the fighting? It isn't. If one of your friends died on the battlefield, while you'd be sad, you'd also know there was almost nothing you could've done to save them. Me, on the other hand? I'll always be haunted by the idea that it was my decision which killed them and that, had I done something different, I could've saved their lives. Every decision I make holds hundreds of lives in the balance and if I get just one wrong..." He broke off. "If I had Sain act as my guard, and you were all killed in the next fight, I'd always wonder whether if sending Sain with you would've saved your life. The idea that you all died because one of our warriors was too busy guarding me... It would tear me apart."

"Vesper..." Lyn felt drained. He had really felt like this all along? All those battles, all those fights, he'd felt like this. She suddenly understood why he said 'his plans always work'. Because he didn't want to think about what would happen if they didn't. "I'm... I'm sorry..."

" I know." Vesper stood perfectly still, his eyes to the ground, unable to look at Lyn. "But I can't do this anymore. I quit. You can make it to Caelin without me holding you back."

With that he turned and began to walk away.

"V-Vesper!" Lyn tried to call out, but her throat choked up and she could only whimper.

Vesper stopped momentarily.

"You asked about Saria earlier." He muttered, without turning to face Lyn. "Saria... was a very dear friend to me. And she died because of a mistake I made. I don't want the same thing to happen to you. Lyn... I'm sorry..."

And with that, he was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Finally, the thrilling conclusion has arrived! Will Vesper reunite with his teammates? Will they be able to rescue Castle Araphen from the bandits? And will I stop splitting these chapters into two-parters? (Here's a clue to the last question: No.)**_

_**On a more serious note, I'm sorry this chapter took so long to come out. First I was working on a One Piece fic, which probably won't come out for a while, because I've gotten a bit stuck. then I got addicted to reading the Bleach fic 'Uninvited Guests' (which you should read right now if you enjoy Bleach). finally, I've been co-writing an FE8 tactician fic with Fennu... Fennikum... Fennimac... *takes deep breath* Fennikusumaru, so watch out for that in the near future.**_

_**Anyway, with that out of the way, enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 9**

The next few minutes were a blur for Lyn. She was vaguely aware of someone calling her name, but she couldn't tell who. She was also aware of a falling sensation, but she didn't feel a thing when she collapsed to the ground. She knew her cheeks were wet, but she couldn't tell if it was rain or tears.

Was it true? Had she really driven away her closest friend? The one man she confided in and could trust with her life. In fact, she had trusted him with her life, several times. She'd never known how heavy a burden that was.

Now Vesper was gone and she didn't think she'd ever be the same.

"I'm sorry." Rath apologised. "I didn't mean to come between you and your friend."

"It's alright." Kent sighed, helping the catatonic Lyn to her feet. "It's our own fault. Both Vesper and Lyn have been under a lot of stress recently, and this was the breaking point. We should've realised"

"You should go." Rath advised. "We've already taken too much from you. We'll handle the bandit threat on our own."

"No." Lyn snapped out of her shocked state. "We promised to help and that's what we're going to do. With or without Vesper."

"Okay." Rath nodded. "Then come this way."

"Lyn, watch out!" Kent cried out again.

Lyn snapped out of her daze to see a bandit charging at her. She managed to jump back, barely avoiding the blade, then ran forward, cutting the bandit across the chest. However, the cut was a shallow one and only served to enrage the bandit. Luckily, before he could attack, Kent speared him with a well-thrown javelin.

"What is wrong with you?" He yelled. "I know you're upset about Vesper, but we're in the middle of a battle! This is no time for spacing out!"

"S-Sorry." Lyn stuttered. "I'll try harder."

"Good. "Kent suddenly felt quite guilty. "You know, maybe you should move to the back of the group, so you don't get hurt."

Although Kent didn't realise it, this was blatantly the wrong thing to say. Lyn immediately thought back to Vesper and how, in an attempt to stop him getting hurt, she had driven him away. Her eyes began to fill up with tears again.

"If Lyn wants, she can ride with me." Rath's gruff voice suddenly woke Lyn from her trance. "I shall protect her."

"If you could, thanks." Kent nodded in relief.

Rath stopped and helped Lyn onto his horse. "Are you comfortable?"

"Yes, thanks." Lyn nodded. "Sorry about all this."

"I should be apologising to you." Rath didn't look at her as he climbed back onto his horse. Was he feeling guilty about causing the rift between Vesper and the group? "Tell me, you're a Sacean too. What tribe are you from?"

"The Lorca." Lyn answered. Then her thoughts turned to her dead parents. "Or at least, I was."

"I heard about the tragedy." Rath sighed. "I'm very sorry."

"It's alright." Lyn sighed. "I thought I'd finally gotten over it but..." She trailed off. "Say Rath, what tribe are you from?"

"The Kutolah." Rath answered. "But I had to leave them. For now I guard the Marquess. He is a very kind and honorable master, and took me in when I had nowhere to go. But one day I hope to return to my tribe."

"I see..." Lyn smiled. "I hope you do."

Rath continued to look into the distance. "As do I."

Lyn didn't realise that, in the few minutes she'd been talking to Rath, she'd forgotten all about Vesper...

"So this is it?" Sain questioned. "There's nothing in here!"

The group had fought their way to an old door, in the side of the castle. However, when they opened it, there was nothing more than a small, stone room.

"Press the stone in the centre." Rath ordered. He and Wil were standing outside the room, keeping guard for any more bandits "It should have a little black mark, so you can identify it. The wall will collapse so we can enter."

"Ah!" Sain grinned, pushing a small stone in the wall. "I think I've found it."

Immediately, a rumbling sound could be heard. Suddenly, Rath grabbed Wil and shoved him into the room.

"I'm sorry." Rath muttered.

Sensing something was wrong, Wil tried to run back out, but it was too late. Large iron bars dropped from the ceiling, trapping the group in the room. The stony wall that Sain had prodded collapsed, revealing another set of iron bars. It quickly became apparent to the group that they were now trapped in a large dungeon.

"This can't be good." Erk muttered.

"Rath, what's the meaning of this?" Lyn yelled, attempting to break throught the bars.

"I'm sorry." Rath repeated, his eyes fixed on the ground.

"Isn't it obvious?" A voice cackled from the other end of the prison. "Your trusted Rath just led you into a trap!"

A man suddenly walked into view. He was dressed in the typical high-quality clothes of a nobleman and was flanked by several guards.

"Marquess Araphen." Kent growled. "Was this your doing?"

"You're very perceptive, Knight of Caelin." Marquess Araphen chuckled. "But you're right. This was all my plan. And it was quite ingenious, if I say so myself. I stage a large-scale bandit attack, cutting the castle off from the outside. My Captain of the Guard, having already proven himself to be trustworthy by preventing a staged assassination attempt, leads you to a handy secret entrance and you follow him like rats to a trap." He grinned at his own genius. "Now which one of you is Lady Lyndis?"

Lyn stepped forward. "I am."  
Araphen's face softened momentarily. "The rumours were true. You're the spitting image of your mother." Then his face turned angry. "The same useless whore who jilted me for a mere nomad. Oh how I've wanted to crush and grind that horrific face until it's nothing more than mush!" He calmed down. "Rath, you did an excellent job bringing them here."

"Thank you." Rath nodded in approval, but he still didn't look up.

"Traitor." Lyn growled, tears running down her face. "You're a disgrace to your tribe!"

"Hah!" Araphen laughed. "You really think he cares about that? Rath hates his race! After all, his tribe banished him for a load of supersticious nonsense! He would've starved to death in the desert, had I not rescued him!"

Rath stayed silent.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Araphen smiled "There's someone I want you to meet."

He gave a clap, and two soldiers came into view, dragging a bound and unconscious Vesper between them. He was bleeding from a nasty looking head-wound and he looked like he'd been beaten up a bit.

"Vesper!" Lyn screamed.

"Indeed." Araphen smiled. "We caught this dog attempting to leave the city a few minutes ago. Looks like he really was intending to abandon you. I was considering just giving you his head..." He drew his sword and placed it against the unconscious Vesper's neck. "But why would I do that, when I can chop it off in front of you?"

"You-!" Lyn tried to grab at Araphen through the bars, but he was too far away.

"Now, now!" Araphen winked, putting his sword away. "Let's not get violent. You can see the boy's head fly tomorrow when I organise a public execution for your miserable band. In the meanwhile, place that prisoner with the others."

The two guards unlocked the cell and, keeping the group at bay with their lances, threw Vesper in, before locking the door behind them.

"Now keep each other company!" Araphen chuckled. "After all, you have a big day tomorrow!"

With that he walked out, chuckling maliciously to himself, flanked by his guards. Rath gave a mournful look towards the group, before leaving as well.

"Vesper, are you alright?" Lyn dashed over to the prone body of the young tactician. "Serra, can you heal him?"

"I'll try." Serra drew her stave.

Vesper groaned slightly, showing he was conscious.

"Listen, Vesper..." Several minutes ago, Lyn had hundreds of different things she wanted to say to Vesper, but now her mind was completely blank. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. You were right, I had no idea how you felt. But you have no idea how we feel either. We've all trusted our lives to you, not to put pressure on you, but because we trust you to do the right thing. Even if we end up dying, we still have faith in you and you shouldn't feel guilty. It's our choice to follow your orders, not yours. And we'd never have made it this far without you. _I'd_ neverhave made it this far without you_. _So please help us!"

...

"You know, that was pretty cute." Vesper answered clearly, without any hint of pain in his voice. "But I'm afraid your tactician is in another castle."

"Huh?"

"There's no injury!" Serra gasped, wiping away at Vesper's head wound. "This is just fake blood!"

'Vesper' got to his feet and, to the surprise of everyone present, pulled off his brown wig to reveal a head of spikey, golden hair underneath.

"Matthew!" Serra gasped.

"Oh hey, Serra." Matthew shrugged. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Who-? Wha-?" Lyn was lost for words.

"Sorry, I guess I should introduce myself." Matthew grinned.

**Much earlier...**

"Why have you been following us?" Vesper asked.

"Huh?" The bearded man sitting in the gutter gave a start. "Who me?"

"Yes, you." Vesper sighed. "You've been following us for a while. Ever since we left that old castle I think. Your camoflage needs a lot of work."

"Heheh." Matthew chuckled. "I was right. You are sharp."

He moved to take off his fake beard, but was stopped by Vesper.

"Not now." Vesper advised. "I've got a tail."

A short while away, Kent watched the two.

"What's he doing?" He wondered.

"Excuse me sir!" A young boy ran up to him. "Would you like to buy something?"

"I'm busy." Kent growled, turning to shoo the boy away..

When he turned back, Vesper and the bearded man were gone.

"Damn! I lost them!" He swore. Then he shrugged. "Ah well, I wasn't expecting to get this far anyway." With that, he began to head back to Lyn and the rest of the group.

Inside a nearby house, Vesper and Matthew caught their breath, having gotten away from their stalker.

"You run pretty well for a..." Vesper attempted to guess the age of Matthew's disguise. "60 year old?"

"55!" Matthew spluttered, outraged. "And you run pretty well for someonewho's supposed to be injured."

"Good point." Vesper shrugged.

"So, what do we do now?" Matthew asked. "Fight or something?

"Actually, I was thinking about hiring you." Vesper answered.

"Really?" Matthew was surprised. "Why?"

"A thief is a valuable addition to any army." Vesper pointed out. "Especially to a tactician."

"You'd really trust me to join your army?" Matthew looked at him, curiously.

"Not really." Vesper admitted. "But it's good to have allies you know you can't trust."

...

"It is?"

"My teacher always said so." Vesper shrugged. "So I'm going by his word on this."

Matthew decided to ignore Vesper's questionable logic. "So should I come with you now and meet the group?"

"No." Vesper shook his head. "I want you to do some information gathering first. More specifically about the Marquess of this town."

"Oh, I already know quite a lot." Matthew grinned. "I was doing some research before you found me."

"And...?"

"The girl, Lyn, she's the daughter of Madelyn Hausen, right?" Matthew checked.

"Yes." Vesper confirmed. "And...?"

"The same Madelyn Hausen who eloped with that nomad, right?"

"Look, are you going to keep asking the obvious, or are you going to tell me what you found out?" Vesper sighed, exasperated.

"All right, calm down!" Matthew grinned. "Marquess Araphen was one of her courters and, after she eloped, he declared revenge on her."

"Well that's not a good sign..." Vesper groaned. "Anything else?"

"He's apparently set up a trap for Lyn." Matthew continued. "I don't know the details, but it has something to do with his Captain of the Guard."

"But why would he set a trap?" Vesper questioned. "Can't he just get his troops to attack us?"

"Most of his troops are stationed around the border, to ward off invasion." Matthew explained. "He actually has very few troops stationed at the capital. Your little band could probably fight most of them off."

"At least there's some good news." Vesper sighed. "Alright, continue digging up information and I'll meet you back here in a few hours."

"Cool." Matthew began to head out then, remembering something, he turned back. "By the way, how much do I get paid?"

"Nothing." Vesper shrugged. "You'd probably end up following us anyway, so why should I pay you?"

...

"Cheapskate..."

**A few hours later**

Matthew found Vesper huddled in the corner, shaking violently.

"M-Matthew." He stuttered, tears in his eyes. "I think I've seriously screwed up..."

"What happened?" Matthew asked, urgently. "Did they attack? Is everyone dead?"

"No..." Vesper shook his head.

"Then what happened?"

"Me and Lyn... kinda had an argument..." Vesper explained. "I ended up saying some really terrible things and... I quit."

"That's it?" Matthew shrugged. "And here was me expecting something interesting and, well... important."

"Thanks for the support..." Vesper smiled weakly.

"What do you want, a hug?" Matthew asked. "Me and my girlfriend once had a massive argument after I accidently used her hairbrush..."

"Are you seriously comparing me abandoning Lyn, to you borrowing your girlfriend's hairbrush?"

"To be fair, there was a knife hidden inside which I almost blinded her with." Matthew admitted. "Anyway, from what I've seen of you two, it'll a take a bit more than some strong words and a temper tantrum to ruin your friendship."

"I guess..." Vesper smiled a bit. "So do you think I should go back and apologise?"

"Nonono!" Matthew shook his head. "If you really want to win her back, you've got to return in a really dramatic and badass way! Maybe saving her from Araphen's trap, or something?"

"Araphen's trap!" Vesper eyes widened and he leapt to his feet. "I forgot! Damn it, I can't sit around here getting lousy romantic advice from you! I've got to do something!"

"That's the spirit!" Matthew grinned. "So what are we gonna do?"

"I know Rath's planning on luring the group into the trap but unless I know what it is, there's not much I can do." Vesper admitted.

"I've been talking with some people around town and I reckon I've figured it out." Matthew explained. "There's an old trap built into the city walls, for prisoners to trick invaders into. I'd bet you he's leading them there."

"So we need to get to them before they get there." Vesper decided. "We need to get moving now!"

"Bad idea." Matthew shook his head. "Marquess Araphen has men out looking for you. Lyn may have been fine with you just leaving, but he's not."

"So Marquess Araphen is looking for me?" Vesper grinned. "I think I've just had an excellent idea..."

"Please don't smile so creepily at me..."

"And that's how I ended up here." Matthew finished.

"Yeah, that's nice and all." Kent sighed. "But couldn't you have just said 'Vesper sent me to rescue you' and got it over and done with?"

"I felt this way was more thorough." Matthew shrugged. "Anyway, I suppose I should get to work setting you free, with my elite lock-picking skills!"

"Or we could use the key." Wil suggested, holding up a large, bronze key.

"Or we could just use the key." Matthew agreed. "Wait, wha-?"

"I just found it in my pocket." Wil explained. "It looks the right size for the door lock."

"I had to disguise myself in this itchy wig and cloak, get caught and beaten by guards, almost got my head chopped off and you had a key the whole time?" Matthew was lost for words. "What the actual hell?"

"As much as I'd like to sit here arguing, can we get moving before the guards get here?" Kent suggested.

"Fine." Matthew sulked. "But I'm gonna kick the crap out of Vesper once we get back."

"Did someone call?"

Just then, the sound of hooves could be heard and Vesper galloped into view, riding the group's carthorse.

"We need to get moving." He turned to Matthew. "So how was that?"

"8/10 for the dramatic entrance, 3/10 for the cliched line." Matthew judged.

"Damn!" Vesper swore. "Anyway, why haven't you got the door open yet?"

"Eh, we've been busy." Matthew shrugged. "Anyway, apparently we've got a key now." He glared at Wil.

"Oh right!" Wil ran over to unlock the door.

The group dashed out the prison. Luckily for Sain, Kent and Florina, their horses had been left just outside. The rest of the group piled onto the cart.

"We'd better leave before the Marquess figures out we're escaping." Vesper muttered. "Let's go!"

"But what about supplies?" Erk pointed out. "We don't have enough to last us to the next town, never mind Caelin!"

"Don't worry about that!" Vesper grinned. "Me and Matthew took the liberty of raiding Araphen's storehouses while you were fighting off bandits. We figured it was the least he owed us."

"Okay then." Erk shrugged. "Let's go!"

"That's my line!"

With that, the cart sped off out of the town, knocking down any guards unfortunate to end up in its way. A few minutes later and Araphen was little more than a blot on the horizon...

"That was a pretty impressive escape." Wil grudgingly admitted.

"Wasn't it?" Matthew grinned. "I was so awesome."

"But you didn't really do anything." Erk pointed out. "Wil unlocked the door and Vesper brought the cart over. The most you did was disguise yourself as Vesper and get beaten up by guards."

"I did a little more than that." Matthew chuckled.

"Like what?"

"Well..." Matthew thought a moment. "I told Wil to open the door."

"..."

"Speaking of..." Kent suddenly remembered. "How did you get that key, Wil?"

"Dunno." Wil shrugged. "I just kinda found it in my pocket."

"I see..." Dorcas scratched his chin. "It must've been Rath."

"Huh?"

"He was the only one who had the chance to slip Wil the key, when he pushed him into the jail cell." Dorcas explained. "I aways thought he might've been sympathetic to our cause. Didn't you notice how often he tried to persuade us to leave? He didn't want to disobey his master, but he didn't want us to get hurt."

Everyone looked at him, shocked.

"It's not that hard to figure out." Dorcas shrugged. "I'm sure Vesper would've told you the same thing, had he been here."

"No, I'm not surprised at that." Wil admitted. "I just don't think I've ever heard you talk."

"Oh..."

"Where are Vesper and Lyn, anyway?" Sain suddenly realised.

"Over there, talking." Kent pointed to near the woods. "They've been through quite a lot today."

"Alone...?" Sain made a suspicious face. "You know, maybe I should go check on them, make sure they're okay."

"Oh no you don't." Kent grabbed Sain's collar before he could leave. "They need privacy."

"They can have privacy!" Sain protested. "I just want to spy on them!"

"... Has that excuse ever worked?"

"Once." Sain shrugged. "Come on, Kent! You must be slightly curious about what they're doing!"

"I am." Kent admitted, turning red. "But this a moment between the two in which we shouldn't interfere. No matter what."

"..." Sain stared at his partner's face for a couple of minutes. "You really like Lyn, don't you."

"Yes." Kent admitted. "But I want what's best for her. Which is why we need to leave those two in peace."

"Fine." Sain sighed, sitting back down. "But if they get attacked by forest demons, I'm blaming you."

"F-Forest demons?" Kent and Florina both stuttered.

"This should be fun." Matthew grinned.

Meanwhile, Lyn and Vesper walked through the forest alone, neither able to look each other in the eye or say a word.

"Lyn, I..." Vesper started, but ran out of words before he could finish.

There was more silence. Eventually the two managed to work up enough courage to say something.

"I'm sorry!" They both blurted.

"I'm sorry for abandoning you!" Vesper apologised.

"And I'm sorry for pushing you so far!" Lyn apologised back.

"So... does that mean everything's sorted?"

"I guess so..."

It certainly didn't feel sorted.

"What you told me about Saria... Was it true?" Lyn asked.

Vesper gave a deep sigh.

"Yes." He finally answered. "I... I thought I'd finally forgotten about her but, when I was nearly killed, she came back. Since then, I've been having dreams about her. I couldn't get her out of my head and eventually I exploded and took it out on you. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Lyn smiled, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you must've really liked her."

"I did." Vesper admitted. "When she died... it practically crushed me. I may have died myself, if a good friend of mine hadn't helped me. Compared to you, I'm pathetic."

"Compared to me?" Lyn questioned. "How so?"

"You lost your parents only a short time ago." Vesper pointed out. "Yet you've been fighting as well as everyone and you don't seem to let it get to you."

"Is that how it seems?" Lyn sighed. "I don't know how I've managed to cope, but it just seems... unreal to me. I just can't seem to accept that they're dead. Whether that makes me strong or not... I don't know. I'm sure I couldn't do what you do though, and carry the burdens of a whole army. That's strength. I probably couldn't even carry the burden of one person."

"Thanks..." Vesper smiled. He thought a moment. "There's a secret I've been meaning to tell you."

"What is it?" Lyn asked, curious.

"You remember how I said I gave you the Tactician Master Seal?"

"Yeah." Lyn remembered. "You said it allowed for full communication... whatever that means"

"That was a lie." Vesper admitted. "It does something completely different."

"What?"

"In a way, it's the most important seal of all." Vesper explained. "Without it, I can't use my tactician magic, in the slightest. However, it creates an unbreakable bond between the warrior and tactician. A bond that can't be broken even by death."

"I don't understand." Lyn shivered.

"If, in Tactician Mode, you die then I die." Vesper explained.

"Oh..." Lyn didn't know how to feel.

"You now carry the burden of one person." Vesper smiled. "Just like I do. How does it feel?"

"I don't know." Lyn shrugged. "It's weird. You really have that much trust in me?"

"I do." Vesper nodded.

"Thanks." Lyn didn't feel much better. "You know how you asked about my parents and I said I felt detached from them? When you left, I think it finally began to sink in and it hit me really hard. But now that you've returned, everything seems alright."

"I know how you feel." Vesper admitted. "It was only when I started thinking about Saria, that I realised how much I'd forgotten her, when I met you."

"Yeah..." Lyn suddenly started chuckling. "You know, I actually ended up having to rely on that turncoat Rath, today"

"I can't believe you fell for his act." Vesper sniggered.

"Well I'm not the invincible, all-knowing tactician." Lyn grinned. "So tell me, how did you figure out he was a traitor?"

"It was pretty obvious from the start." Vesper shrugged. "When that assassin attacked you, from the position he was standing, and the width of the assassin's cloak, it was impossible for him to have seen the knife. So it must've been staged."

"I see." Lyn nodded. "So he was a fraud all along."

"Yeah..." Vesper looked at the slowly setting sun. "You know he was trying to protect us, right?"

"Yeah." Lyn sighed. "He gave us so many warnings and chances to escape and then he slipped us the key. I bet he helped persuade the Marquess not to have Matthew beheaded on the spot. And, when he said he'd like to return to his tribe one day... I'm certain he wasn't lying."

Vesper nodded. "He wasn't such a bad guy after all..."

The two were interrupted by a sudden rustling behind them. Lyn moved cautiously towards the noise, only to find Sain, Kent, Florina and Matthew hiding in a nearby bush...

"Um... We were looking for forest demons?" Sain chuckled nervously...

"This plan of yours was a complete failure!" The bandit leader , Boss, slammed his large fists onto the wooden table, leaving a crack. "I wasted plenty of good men getting you that girl, and you let her escape?"

"Know your place, Bandit scum!" Araphen growled. "I couldn't care less how many of your filth died!"

"Why you-?" Boss almost bludgeoned Araphen there and then, but he was stopped by Rath.

"Please back away from the Marquess." Rath ordered in a calm, but menacing tone.

"You're lucky your fancy bodyguard is here to protect you." Boss snarled, before whistling to the remnants of his troupe. "Come on boys, we need to move to catch up with that damn girl, since Lord Fancy-Pants here was a waste of time!"

Boss and his bandit troupe slowly exited Marquess Araphen's main hall, swearing violently as they went.

"What an insufferable band of oafs." Araphen sighed. "I'm glad you were here, Rath. I can always rely on you."

"Thank you sir." Rath nodded.

"In fact, I'd say you're the _only_ one I can rely on." Araphen repeated.

There was silence for a moment.

"I understand." Rath nodded again. "I will saddle up immediately."

"Good." Araphen smiled. "Please don't let those bandits get there first."

"They will not make it there before me." Rath turned to leave.

"Oh, Rath!" Araphen called.

"Yes?"

"If you're able, do me one small favour." Araphen chuckled. "Bring me the girl's pretty little head on a platter."


	10. Chapter 10

_**Today's chapter is kind of a special one. Basically, while I was writing up the last chapter, when the group got stuck in the prison, I couldn't help but wonder what Erk/Serra/Dorcas/etc thought about the situation. However, I couldn't find a way to put those in, without ruining the flow. I also realised, as more characters were introduced, I'd have more and more trouble giving them stuff to do. Thus this chapter came about. Think of it as basically the chapter equivalent of a support conversation. Nothing very important to the plot happens, I just throw the characters together and watch the craziness happen. In todays chapter, we have support conversations for...**_

**Vesper + Erk**

**Dorcas + Sain**

**Serra + Sain**

**Serra + Florina**

**Matthew + Wil**

**Dorcas + Kent**

**Matthew + Wil (again)**

**Kent + ... Florina?**

**Sain + Florina's Pegasus**

**Kent + Florina (for real)**

**I figure I should point out that this chapter contains large amounts of comedy and some sort of... I won't say Love Triangle... more like a Love Nuclear Explosion...**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"Now swing your arms in an arc, like this!" Lyn instructed, swinging her sword out in front of her. Vesper followed almost completely in sync.

Since Vesper refused to have someone guard him, Lyn felt it necessary to instruct him in the ways of swordplay, so he could defend himself if Ephidel returned. At first, Vesper hadn't liked the idea, but soon he agreed to do it, and was picking up the basics remarkably quickly. A little too quickly for Lyn's liking...

"Okay, we'll stop here." Lyn smiled, wiping her brow.

Vesper turned to leave.

"Oh Matthew!" Lyn called.

"Yes?" 'Vesper' answered.

"I knew it!" Lyn stormed over and yanked the brown wig off Matthew's hair.

"Uh oh..." Matthew knew he'd been rumbled.

"Vesper!" Lyn yelled into the air.

Inside one of the tents, Vesper and Erk listened to Lyn's angry screams.

"Looks like she found out." Erk shrugged.

"Yep." Vesper agreed. "Personally, I'm surprised Matthew fooled her that long."

"So what are you gonna do now?" Erk asked.

"Eh... I'll wait in here for the moment." Vesper planned out his 'strategy'. "Once she approaches, I'll head for the trees and hide there. Matthew gave me a few useful tips about camoflage."

"Okay." Erk returned to the book he was reading. "Why are you so against swordfighting, anyway?"

"Look at me, Erk." Vesper sighed. "I have trouble lifting a sword, never mind fighting with one."

"Then why don't you try learning attack magic?" Erk suggested.

"I dunno, it might get confusing." Vesper scratched his chin. "I might get the two mixed up and accidently roast Lyn, while attempting to order her to attack an enemy."

"Could you do that?" Erk asked.

"I've no idea." Vesper admitted. "I've never tried it. Don't particularly want to, either."

"So you'll stick with swordfighting?"

...

"Damn, I hadn't thought of that." Vesper sighed. "Alright, tell me a bit more about attack magic."

"There are three types." Erk explained. "Light, Anima and Dark. I think you're probably best suited to Dark."

"Thanks a lot..."

"Dark doesn't necessarily mean evil." Erk continued. "Dark magic is based on knowledge and our understanding of the forces around us. Similarly, Light magic is based on faith and Anima magic is based on nature."

"I see..." Vesper lied. "So who called it Dark magic?"

"Heck if I know." Erk shrugged.

"Well... can you teach me Dark Magic?" Vesper asked.

"Nope."

"What? Why not?"

"Don't know how."

"Well that's anti-climactic." Vesper sighed.

"Yes it is." Erk could hear the sound of angry footsteps heading their way. "Looks like she's coming."

"Yep." Vesper slipped under the tent wall. "Been nice chatting to you. If I don't survive..."

"Tell everyone you died bravely fighting off ninja assassins." Erk sighed. "I know the drill. Now get going."

"Thanks." Vesper ran off.

Seconds later, Lyn stuck her head through the tent door.

"Have you seen-?"

"Went that way." Erk pointed in the direction Vesper had left. "He's planning on hiding in the woods."

"Thanks." Lyn nodded, heading off.

"Serves that jerk right for interrupting my reading time." Erk sighed, leaning back on his bed.

Dorcas and Sain were sitting next to the fire, as Lyn stomped angrily by.

"God, I wouldn't like to be Vesper when she catches him!" Sain laughed. "Although then again, maybe I would! Know what I mean buddy?"

"..."

"Yeah..." Sain gave out a happy sigh. "I'm so lucky being in a group with so many beautiful girls. Well, three, but still. Don't you agree?"

"..."

"Yep, they sure are beautiful." Sain chuckled. "Who do you think looks better?"

"..."

"I mean, Lyn's always really cute when she's in a temper," Sain continued, oblivious of his companion's awkward silence. "And that ponytail is adorable. But then again, Florina's so timid and cute! And Serra... well, she's alright."

"..."

"But I don't think any of them are what I'd call my 'dream woman'." Sain concluded. "I think we need a pretty young blonde on the team. I always love young blondes. Don't you agree?"

"..."

"Yep." Sain lay back, a dreamy look on his face. "Plenty of blondes... Hey Dorcas, who would be your dream woman?"

"...My wife."

"Nonono!" Sain chuckled. "I mean your _real_ dream woman, not just what you had to settle with."

"..."

"And that's when he broke your nose?" Serra interrupted, wiping the last of the blood away.

"No." Sain shook his head. "He broke it when I started to call his wife a '7/10'. Which is a fair score."

"Definitely." Serra agreed. "Most women would be happy to get that score."

"That's what I said!" Sain pointed out.

"And that was when he kicked you in the guts?"

"Yup." Sain nodded. "Joke's on him though. She's only a 6."

"So what am I?" Serra asked

"10." Sain answered instantly.

"For that, you get the clean bandages." Serra smiled. "By the way, how's Kent? I haven't seen him around recently."

"He's been busy training." Sain explained. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Serra lied, blushing heavily.

"Wha-?" Sain was speechless. "You mean-? You-? Kent-? You like him?"

"D-Don't be ridiculous." Serra stuttered. "As if I would like a simple, handsome knight like him..."

"W-Well... I hear he doesn't like you." Sain lied, uncontrollably jealous. "And he doesn't bathe! At all! In fact, he stinks!"

"I don't mind about that." Serra shrugged. "I only pretended I did, because I didn't want to ride with you earlier."

"What?" Sain was outraged. "Why not?"

"Because you're a heartless womaniser who chases after anything in a skirt." Serra pointed out. "That's a massive turnoff for a girl."

"You think so?" Sain was surprised. "Alright then, from now on I'll give up my womanising ways and become a better man!"

Just at that moment, Florina nervously entered Serra's medical tent.

"Oh my darling Florina!" Sain gasped, reverting back to his old ways. "Words cannot express how happy your presence makes me!"

"That lasted long." Serra sighed. "What is it Florina? Have you been injured?"

"N-No..." Florina seemed even more nervous than usual. "I-I just wanted to get your advice on something... in private."

"Oh don't mind me." Sain smiled. "I'll just sit in the corner silently, while you two lovely ladies discuss your business."

"You do that." Serra smiled, sarcastically. "By the way Sain, before I start the healing process, I'm going to administer some anaesthetic, so I need you to shut your eyes for a moment."

"Anything for you, my darling Se-" Serra smashed Sain over the head with her healing staff, knocking him unconscious.

"Gets them every time." Serra chuckled. "Especially Erk. So what did you want to talk to me about, Florina?"

"Um... You remember that you told me that you had plenty of lovers back in O-Ostia?" Florina asked "W-Was that a lie?"

"N-No." Serra lied, blushing. "Of course it was true!"

"Thank goodness..." Florina smiled, naively. "In that case, c-could you give me some advice?"

"Oh, that kind of advice?" Serra grinned. "Alright then, who is it you like?"

Florina started blushing heavily and refused to answer.

"Alright then, I'll guess." Serra thought a moment. "Is it Kent?"

Florina shook her head.

"Wil?"

"N-No."

"Matthew?"

"No."

"Not Erk?"

"No."

"Dorcas is already married." Serra pointed out.

"It's not him either."

"But that just leaves Vesper and Sain?" Serra realised. "You can't really have a crush on one of those two?"

"Wait, why am I considered so low in the rankings?" Vesper sprung out from beneath the bench he was hiding under.

...

"What are you doing there?" Serra questioned.

"Hiding from Lyn." Vesper answered. "Damn! Here she comes!"

He quickly ducked under the tent wall and ran off. Seconds later, an angry Lyn stuck her head through the entrance.

"Where-?"

"That way." Serra immediately answered.

"Thank you." Lyn left, in pursuit of Vesper once more.

Serra gave a deep sigh, before turning back to her previous conversation.

"Anyway, where were we, Flori-"

Unfortunately, during the confusion, Florina lost her nerve and slipped away without Serra noticing.

"Damn!" Serra swore. "Now I'm gonna be wondering about Florina's secret love all day!"

"Gnuuuhhh..." Sain groaned, slowly gaining consciousness. "Why do I feel so sore...?"

"Just the after effects of the anaesthetic." Serra pretended. "I'm not done healing yet, so I'm gonna give you some more."

"Does that mean you're going to bash me on the head with your staff again?" Sain translated.

"Pretty much." Serra shrugged, swiftly knocking out the cavalier. "At least I'm not leaving you hanging around like that poor schmuck outside..."

The poor schmuck in question, Matthew, had been tied up by Lyn and then hoisted into the air. She had hung him from a tree branch, so he couldn't escape without plummeting to the ground. Not that that would stop him trying...

"Okay... swing back and forth..." Matthew muttered to himself, swinging from his rope. "And on the count of three, cut the rope and jump to the tree branch. One... two... thr-!"

"Hey Matthew." Wil greeted.

"Wil!" Matthew cried with joy. "You've got to get me down from here! I can't feel my legs!"

"I'd like to..." Wil explained. "But Lyn said that she'd hang anyone who cut you down."

"Please!" Matthew begged. "I swear I won't tell anyone! I'll just claim Sain did it!"

"Well..." Wil pretended to think a moment. "I'll do it if you help me with a prank I'm planning to play on Kent."

"Deal." Matthew agreed immediately. "Now get me down!"

"No problem." Wil drew his bow.

"I meant lower me down slowly!" Matthew screamed, but it was too late. The arrow shot through the rope, sending Matthew falling to the ground with a nasty thump.

"You okay?" Wil asked, unconcerned.

"I think I punctured a lung..." Matthew groaned.

"You'll be fine." Wil shrugged, as he dragged the groaning Matthew away. "Now here's what we're going to do..."

Kent shuddered.

"Do you get the feeling that something disasterous is about to happen?" He asked Dorcas.

"... I get that feeling every time your green-armoured friend comes near." Dorcas sighed.

"Oh, that's normal." Kent shrugged. "I'm talking about something more... sinister."

"... It is likely best that you don't worry about it." Dorcas advised. "Whatever it is, it will blow over eventually."

"I guess..." Kent still looked slightly nervous. "By the way, Dorcas, I've been wanting to ask your advice about something."

"... What is it?"

"Well, you and Natalie seem so happily together and..." Kent struggled to finish his sentence.

"You wish for relationship advice?" Dorcas asked, surprised. "Why don't you go ask Serra?"

There was a brief pause, then the two men burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, that's a good one." Kent chuckled. "I'd be better off getting relationship advice from Sain!"

"I couldn't resist." Dorcas smiled. "Anyway, I'm afraid I can't tell you that much. Myself and Natalie have always been very close and one day, we just... clicked."

"So you're saying I should just let things take their course?" Kent scratched his head. "What if we never... click?"

"Then you weren't meant for each other." Dorcas shrugged. "There's no surefire advice, or hair-brained scheme I have which can help you."

"Oh..." Kent looked a little dejected. "You don't have anything that'll help?"

"Well..." Dorcas thought a moment. "I suppose you could get her a gift, or something."

"A gift!" Kent gasped. "That's perfect! But what to get her...?"

"Trying asking Florina." Dorcas shrugged. "She's been friends with Lyn the longest."

"I don't know..." Kent thought. "Florina's very shy and- Wait, what makes you think I'm talking about Lyn?"

Dorcas gave him a look which basically said 'You're not fooling anyone.'

"It's that obvious?"

Dorcas nodded.

"Well..." Kent tried to change the subject. "Do you have any more advice? Or do you know anyone I could ask?"

"Try asking Matthew." Dorcas advised. "He has plenty of... questionable schemes and I've heard he's also in a relationship."

"I don't know..." Kent thought a moment. "Matthew seems a little... untrustworthy."

"Is that it?" Matthew asked, irritated.

"What? It's a perfectly simple plan!" Wil pointed out. "All we have to do is find some horse manure, and stick it in Kent's stirrups. Then, when he goes to ride his horse, he'll step on it."

"Yeah, I get that." Matthew explained. "But it's so boring! That prank's been pulled hundreds of times! Where's your creative flair?"

"Well, what do you suggest?"

"It's very simple..." Matthew grinned. "But first, we need some mud, some rope, some brown cloth, Kent's saddle and Florina's bad tempered pegasus."

"How are we going to get the pegasus though?" Wil asked. "It mauls anyone who comes near, apart from Florina and Lyn!"

"Oh don't worry about that!" Matthew grinned. "Did I mention that I'm a master of disguise...?"

"Y-You're not seriously going to-"

"Shut up and help me get this wig on!"

After much debating, Wil managed to persuade Matthew that putting on a spare pair of Florina's clothes wasn't necessary and that he could probably persuade the pegasus with just the wig.

Matthew slowly approached the pegasus, who eyed him suspiciously, but didn't attack. Matthew had just managed to untie the pegasus when...

"Hey Florina!" Kent called, running over. "I want to ask you something!"

"Many thoughts ran through Matthews mind at that single moment, all of which could be summed up with one word.

Sh*t

"Listen Florina..." Kent began, before noticing 'Florina's' odd atire. "Why are you-?"

"-I f-fell in the river earlier, so Matthew lent me some spare clothes!" Matthew lied, attempting to imitate Florina's voice, while hiding behind the pegasus, so Kent couldn't see his face.

"Oh..." Kent seemed to buy this explanation for now. "Listen, I want some advice on something. You know Lyn really well, right?"

"Um..." Matthew didn't like how this conversation was going. "Y-Yes?"

"Good." Kent smiled. "Listen, what sort of a gift do you think I should get her?"

"Huh?"

"A gift?" Kent started blushing slightly. "I feel kinda nervous asking you about this, but..."

"It'll never work out." Matthew stated, bluntly. "Between you and Lyn, I mean."

"Wha- Why not?" Kent spluttered.

"Oh please, it's obvious she's going to end up with Vesper." Matthew shrugged. "Those two are practically meant for each may be pigheaded about it, but you can tell just by looking at them. I'd stake my pride as a ma... woman on it."

"...Y-You're right..." Kent sighed. "I was only kidding myself. I should just forget about it now, before things become worse for me."

"You do that." Matthew nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to-"

"I have to admit, I never knew you could be so... blunt, Florina." Kent smiled. "I guess that whole 'shy' thing is just an act, right?"

"Er..." Matthew realised he'd really screwed things up now." Y-Yeah! I do it to keep people like Sain away. But please don't tell anyone about it... or ever mention it again."

"Don't worry." Kent winked. "Your secret is safe with me."

With that he was off. After waiting a few moments, to check he was really gone, Wil leapt out of his hiding place, to where Matthew was trying to catch his breath from the shock.

"I can't believe you managed to talk your way out of that one!" He grinned.

"Me neither." Matthew panted. "I almost bolted a couple of times. By the way, why didn't you help?"

"I was too busy rolling on the floor laughing." Wil admitted.

"Fair enough." Matthew gave a quick grin. "Now let's get this prank underway!"

First, Matthew lead the pegasus away, so he wouldn't have another awkward interruption, then he used the rope to tie the pegasus's wings to its body. Then he used the brown cloth to cover the wings and, with the mud, painted the pegasus completely brown, until it resembled Kent's horse. Finally he swapped the saddles and placed the disguised pegasus where Kent's horse used to be.

"Now, we sit and wait." He grinned to Wil.

However, much to their surprise, it wasn't Kent who turned up first, but Sain!

"This'll teach you, Mr Ladies Man." Sain chuckled to himself, carrying a small pile of horse manure. "Let's see if you're so popular once I pull the old Manure Feet trick on you..."

He grabbed ahold of the stirrups and began to coat them in horse manure. Unfortunately, that startled the disguised pegasus and it bolted in fright. Even more unfortunately, Sain's hand got caught in one of the stirrups and he was dragged along with the panicking pegasus, screaming. Luckily, the pegasus had been tethered to the tree with a strong piece of rope... which promptly snapped, letting the pegasus gallop off across the forest, an unlucky Sain in tow.

Meanwhile, Matthew and Wil were bursting with laughter until they spotted the silhouette of an angry Lyn standing over them...

"What the heck's that galloping sound?" Vesper muttered from his hiding place, a tree branch.

He was then hit in the face by Florina's pegasus, which had also broken free of the rope holding it's wings. Luckily, the impact knocked Sain. Unfortunately, it also knocked them both off the tree branch. They plummeted into a nearby bush.

"Lousy pegasus..." Vesper groaned, crawling out. "I swear I'm gonna have it made into sausages when I-"

*ahem*

"...Lyn's standing right behind me, isn't she?"

"And that's how the four of us ended up here." Vesper finished. Vesper, Wil, Matthew and Sain had all been tied up and hung in the same uncomfortable position as Matthew had until they 'learnt their lesson'. "So could you let us down?"

"I'll think about it." Erk shrugged, walking away.

...

"Jerk."

"Hah! Little does he know that I lined the cover of his books with horse manure." Matthew sniggered.

"He's coming back this way." Vesper spotted. "And he appears to be gathering... what looks like firewood."

"Uh oh."

Florina sat watching Erk about to burn the four captives alive and wondered what she should do. While she'd been told to fetch Lyn if any of the captives managed to escape, she hadn't been told what to do if the captives were put in mortal danger by a mildly irritated mage. Her thoughts were interrupted when Kent ran over.

"Hey Florina." He smiled. "I see your clothes have dried off!"

"Um...?"

"Listen, I've been thinking more about what you said." Kent explained. "And I think you're right. It wouldn't have worked out between me and Lyn and, had I tried to push it, things would've just gotten worse."

"Okay...?"

"Listen..." Kent began blushing. "I was really impressed with your honesty, when I was asking about Lyn and... well... I was kind of wondering if you wanted go for a quick walk together."

"Uh..."

"I'm not being too quick about this whole thing, am I?" Kent gasped. "Sorry, I'm unused to this sort of thing! I'm sorry for embarassing you!"

With that he ran off, leaving Florina to wonder what had just happened.

"So you're trying to steal my boyfriend, eh?" Serra scowled from behind the tree she was hiding behind. "You're a sly one, Florina. But Kent will be mine! Mwahahaha!"

Dorcas listened to Serra's cackling and gave a deep sigh.

"What a weird day..."


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sorry this chap took so long, but I've been busy. I'd expect that the next chapter won't come out for a while as well. In the meantime, you can check out my awesome new One Piece fanfic! Lucky you!**_

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"P-Please, you have to help!" The young, blue-haired boy begged. "They kidnapped my sister!"

"Get lost kid!" The bartender yelled. "I don't know what you or your sister did to piss those guys off so much, but I don't want you dragging me into this!"

"B-But-!"

"Get out!"

The boy blinked back his tears, before running out of the bar. After he left, a cloaked figure walked up to the barman.

"That child, who is he?" The figure asked.

"Dunno." The barman shrugged. "Probably just some troublemaker who got on the wrong side of some bandits."

"I see..." The figure thought a moment, before heading out of the door. "I may need some help for this..."

"Calm your breathing..." Matthew told Vesper. "Then throw it quickly, using your wrist as a pivot..."

"Yah!" Vesper threw his dagger in a swift movement... only for it to land a few feet away from him. Quite a distance away from the target he was supposed to hit.

"Okay... We may need to work on your upper body strength..."

Lyn sighed. After finally realising that maybe Vesper wasn't exactly cut out for sword-fighting, Lyn had decided to get Matthew to instruct him in knife-fighting skills instead. At least this way, she could keep an eye on the both of them... Most of the time.

"She's spacing out." Matthew whispered. "Think we should make a run for it?"

"No, we're out in the open too much." Vesper replied. "Wait until we're closer to the woods. She'll be expecting us to move into town, so we'd have a better chance of avoiding her in the woods."

"I can hear you, you know." Lyn pointed out.

...

"Um... well, we know that now!"

Lyn sighed. "Kent!"

"Yes?" Kent had learnt to stay nearby for situations like this.

"I want you to guard the woods and make sure those two don't enter." She ordered.

"Okay." Kent nodded. "They've already ran off, though."

"What?" Lyn turned to see that, while she'd been talking, Matthew and Vesper had made a runner into town. "A double bluff? Damn those two! Kent! Set up a border around the town! Have Sain search the town from the ground, and Florina search from the air! Set Wil up on a tall building as a lookout and have Dorcas, Serra and Erk ready to move if they're spotted!"

"Don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously?" Kent pointed out. "They'll probably come back once they start to get hungry."

"So... you're saying we should use the food as bait?" Lyn asked, completely misunderstanding the point.

"No, I mean-"

"We don't have time to talk, Kent!" Lyn yelled. "While we're talking, those two will be planning their next move!"

"Yeah yeah, send out the troops." Kent shrugged. "I don't really see the point. You're not gonna find them. Knowing Vesper he's probably come up with some sort of ingenious plan to ensure that they won't be found..."

"Is the coast clear?" Vesper asked.

"Yup." Matthew nodded. "Sain passed by a couple of minutes ago, but I haven't seen anyone else."

"Thank God!" Vesper gasped, crawling out of the barrel he was hiding in. "I don't think I could've taken another minute in there."

"I know what you mean." Matthew crawled out of his barrel and began stretching. "Barrels are about my seventh least favourite place to hide."

"Seventh?"

"Toilets, the inside of matresses and chimneys are all worse." Matthew explained. "The top three are so foul I can't mention them without puking."

"Why is the inside of a matress so bad?"

"Let me rephrase that. A matress used by someone with bad BO. And who wets themselves."

"Oh." Vesper suddenly understood. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask. Were you hiding in the second barrel, back in that old castle?"

"Huh?" Matthew was surprised. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Just a guess." Vesper shrugged. "I heard someone moving in there when I tricked those bandits into collapsing the floor."

"Yeah." Matthew admitted. "I would've helped you then but... I'm a wimp."

"Fair enough." Vesper admitted. "I wouldn't have helped you either."

"Thanks... I think." Matthew sighed. "I have to admit, I was kinda scared you'd discover me, when Natalie sneezed."

"Yeah, but you'd have to be an idiot to sneeze while in hiding." Vesper chuckled.

*achoo*

...

"Did... that barrel just sneeze?" Matthew asked.

"Hang on." Vesper moved cautiously over to the barrel and opened the top to reveal a young, blue-haired boy hiding inside.

"Um... Hi?" The boy chuckled nervously.

...

"You know, if there is a God, he's got a weird sense of humour..." Vesper sighed.

"I'm really sorry." The boy, Nils apologised. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was just afraid you were bandits."

"How do you know we're not bandits?" Matthew asked, putting on his best 'creepy' face.

"Because you two look really weak." Nils answered bluntly.

...

"I don't like this kid." Matthew decided.

"Look, as much as I enjoy watching you two arguing..." Vesper sighed. "We should get into cover before Lyn finds us."

"Too late!" Lyn suddenly stepped out of the shadows, with her sword drawn.

Vesper and Matthew tried to run the other way, but Dorcas and Erk cut them off. They were surrounded.

...

"Crap."

"Just so you know, I blame you for this." Matthew glared at Nils.

"So you really thought you could escape from me... again." Lyn advanced on the two, a crazy look in her eyes. "Do you have any idea how much time we've wasted looking for you? What if we were attacked by bandits? Do you-"

"Wait!" Nils suddenly interrupted. "You guys are strong enough to fight bandits!"

"Yup!" Vesper grinned, drawing his dagger and spinning it around his fingers in a move which might've looked professional had it not spun out of his grasp and almost hit Nils, scratching him slightly.

"Idiot, watch what you're doing!" Lyn yelled, giving Vesper a smack.

"Yeah, if you're wanting to hit the kid, you need to get your aim right!" Matthew agreed.

...

"Look, I don't like that kid much." Matthew admitted.

"Never mind that!" Nils continued. "Can you help my sister? She was kidnapped by a group of bandit!"

"Your sister was kidnapped!" Lyn gasped. "Well of course we can-"

"Wait a second, Lyn!" Vesper interrupted. "I need a quick word with you. In private."

The two moved to a spot where they couldn't be overheard. Nils had no idea what was happening, but Lyn seemed quite angry about what Vesper was telling her. However, after a short while, she sighed and seemed to accept it.

"I'm afraid we can't help you, kid." Vesper told Nils, returning to the group. "It's much too dangerous and we really need to be somewhere else."

"But-!" Sain tried to interrupt but Kent stopped him.

"Do you agree with this decision, Lyn?" Kent asked, calmly.

"..." Lyn was silent for a moment. "Yes, I do."

"Then I agree too." Kent nodded.

"As do I." Dorcas also nodded.

"I don't really care either way." Erk shrugged.

Sain looked around at the others in disbelief, but stayed silent.

"Sorry kid." Vesper apologised. "You'll have to look elsewhere for help."

Nils tried to hold back his tears. He was certain that these people would help him! And now his hopes had been dashed again. Rather than see let the group see him cry, he ran off into the streets, without a word.

"A-Are you sure this was the right choice?" Lyn asked, obviously feeling guilty.

"Yes." Vesper nodded. "This is for the best."

"I don't need those guys." Nils grumbled miserably to himself, as he walked down the streets alone. "I can find new help easily. Maybe I could hire mercenaries! All I need is some money and then I can- Gmmph?"

While he was distracted, a tall burly man had snuck up on Nils and shoved a wad of cloth into his mouth.

"Grrmphh! Strppphmm!"

Nils tried to scream and escape the man's grasp, but the man was holding him too tight. Two more men approached, carrying coils of rope and, before Nils could do anything, they'd trussed him up and thrown him into the back of a waiting wagon.

"Rrrgmph mrph!" Nils tried to break free but the ropes were too strong.

"Bwahahaha!" One of the kidnappers, presumably their leader, laughed at the struggling boy. "You gave us a run for our money, but you can't escape the Black Fang! Mistress Ursula will definitely reward us for capturing you!"

"Boss Heintz, Federin still hasn't returned!" One of the kidnappers reported.

"Then we'll leave without him!" Heintz ordered. "We need to deliver this important package, pronto!"

"Right!" The kidnapper shouted some orders and the wagon began moving, pulling Nils further and further away from the town and closer and closer to his sinister fate.

"Arrumph..." Nils whimpered. Was this it? Had he finally be caught? Would he have to go back to Nergal and-

_'Don't panic'_ A voice in his head suddenly sounded.

Had he not been gagged, Nils probably would've screamed.

_'I said 'Don't panic'!'_ The voice yelled. _'It's me! Vesper!'_

"Vmphmr?"

_'Listen, don't talk out loud.'_ Vesper ordered. _'Now I've got enough contracts, you should be able communicate back to me telepathically. This may be difficult, but you just need to think hard about what you want to say and-'_

_'Like this?'_ Nils answered.

_'...Yes.'_

_'What's going on?' _Nils asked. _'I thought you weren't going to help. And why can I suddenly hear you in my head?'_

_'It's a bit of a long story...'_

A small distance away, the group kept watch as Vesper explained the situtation to Nils.

"So... we really are helping him?" Sain was a little confused.

"Yep." Lyn nodded, wiping the blood of the recently deceased Federin off her blade. "But if we're wanting to rescue his sister, we need to find out where she is first. So Vesper decided it would be better to let the bandits capture Nils first, then follow them back to their lair and rescue the two of them."

"Huh..." Sain thought a moment. "That's actually pretty clever. So he deliberately cut Nils when he was doing that knife trick? That takes some skills."

"Yeah, that was kind of a lucky shot." Lyn realised. "Especially for someone as bad with knives as he is..."

Everyone looked at Matthew.

"Alright, we've been training together in secret." He admitted. "Vesper's actually gotten pretty good with a dagger. Not as good as yours truly, but decent enough. We only pretended that he sucked so we could mess around with Lyn."

"Thanks for that..." Lyn growled, making a mental note to reinstate Vesper in her sword-training program. And to make said program a **lot** harder.

"I've got one question, though!" Sain interrupted. "I get that he told you everything, but..." He pointed at Kent, Dorcas and Erk. "How did you lot know to play along?"

"I figured that, if he managed to persuade the good-hearted Lyn, Vesper must've had an alternate motive to refusing to help." Kent explained.

"I came to the same conclusion." Dorcas nodded.

"And I genuinely don't care either way." Erk shrugged.

"Could you lot shut up?" Vesper yelled. "I'm trying to explain things to Nils here!"

"How do you think we like it?" Lyn countered. "We have to listen to every word you telepathically tell Nils! Isn't there a mute or something?"

"I'll look into it." Vesper shrugged. _'Anyway, do you understand now, Nils?'_

_'I think so.' _Nils nodded._ ''But couldn't you have come up with a plan that didn't involve me being tied up like this?'_

_'Look, do you want us to rescue your sister?' _Vesper growled. _'Anyway, my plans always work.'_

_'That seems a little overconfident.' _Nils sighed.

_'Hey, I'm not the one who let a large thug sneak up on him!'_ Vesper pointed out.

The thug in question seemed a little disappointed that Nils no longer seemed to be trying to escape, or cry, or whatever it is that kidnap victims do.

"I have to admit, after we caught up with you, you really weren't that hard to catch." Heintz chuckled, trying to provoke Nils. "But you weren't as easy to catch as your sister!"

"Garrummph!" Nils came to attention at the mention of his sister.

"Yep." Heintz chuckled, happy he'd found a pressure point. "I'm sure you two will be overjoyed when you're reunited! Shame we've already shipped her off though. She's probably halfway across the country by now!"

...

_'Damn!'_ Vesper swore. _'We can't follow this lot across the entire country!'_

"What do we do now?" Lyn asked.

_'We'll have to cut our losses for now." _Vesper sighed. _'Let's get Nils out of there. Prepare to move out. I've got a cunning plan...'_

"What's wrong?" Heintz asked as the wagon grinded to a halt.

"There's a large tree blocking the road." One of the men reported. "It'll take us a while to move it."

"Well hurry up!" Heintz growled. "I don't want to be stuck here long."

"Don't worry sir, we should have it done in- Gyaaaah!" The man's report was cut off by a loud shriek.

Outside the wagon, there was more screaming and the sounds of fighting.

"What the hell?" Heintz growled, grabbing his axe. "Stay here!" He ordered Nils, rather pointlessly since the boy didn't have much choice.

He leapt out of the wagon, only to stumble back in a couple of seconds later, a sword stuck in his throat.

"Rrrmpph!" Nils screamed as Heintz's body collapsed in front of him.

Outside, the sounds of battle were dying down. It looked like the kidnappers had been successfully driven off. Nils could hear somone approaching the back of the wagon.

"Lmmph!" Nils expected it to be Lyn and her group, so he was horribly surprised when he came face to face with Boss the Bandit...

"_What the hell are that lot doing here?"_ Lyn telepathically growled from her hiding place.

_'I don't know.'_ Vesper answered.

The group had planned on ambushing the kidnappers when they reached a small bridge further along, but Vesper had spotted Boss and his crew setting up their trap first.

_'Do you reckon they're in league with the kidnappers?'_ Lyn asked.

_'Oh yeah, that's obviously why they slaughtered the lot of them without hesitation.' V_esper pointed out, sarcastically.

_'I meant that they were both trying to kidnap Nils, idiot.'_ Lyn scowled.

_'Well, I can still listen in on Nils, so I can find out.' _Vesper shrugged. _'We need to rescue Nils though, no matter who's kidnapping who. Get into position.'_

_'Right.' _Lyn nodded.

"Who the hell is this?" Boss growled, looking at Nils. "We were told that these schmucks had kidnapped the girl! That damn nomad lied to us!"

_'What the-?' _Vesper tried to analyse this new information. First of all, he had a feeling that the 'nomad' they were talking about was Rath. Vesper hadn't seen any other nomads around town and it was rare to see any outside of Sacae, period. Besides, he already knew Rath and the bandtis were in contact, after the incident in Araphen. It wasn't too much to imagine that Araphen had sent Rath after them. However, what he didn't know was why Rath thought Lyn had been kidnapped. Or even that anyone had been kidnapped at all. Vesper was in tactician mode when Nils had been captured and he could tell that there hadn't been anyone who could witness the crime. So how had Rath known? He'd have had to have been listening into their telepathic conversations to do that, but that was impossib-

Vesper suddenly flashed back to Araphen where, in preparation for battle, he had lightly cut Rath on the hand. Then everything fell into place. Disasterously so.

_'Lyn, get down!' _Vesper yelled.

"Wha-?" Vesper's brief warning was enough for Lyn to throw herself to the floor as an arrow flew over her head, embedding itself into the tree behind her.

From a nearby hillside, Rath scowled as Lyn crawled into cover, before he notched another arrow to his Longbow...

_'What the hell was that?'_ Lyn swore.

_'Rath.' _Vesper answered, scowling. _'I underestimated that guy.'_

_'Huh?'_

_'He's been listening in to our telepathic conversations thanks to that contract I gave him in Araphen.' _Vesper explained. _'He knew about Nils's kidnapping and our plans to rescue him, so he tricked the bandits into attacking the group in order to lure us out and kill you.' _His face turned grim. _'Did I miss anything, Rath?'_

...

_'You are correct.' _Rath's stoic voice could be heard. _'Your deductive ability is most impressive, tactician.'_

_'You traitorous bastard...' _Lyn growled.

_'Lyn, ignore him for the moment.' _Vesper ordered. _'I think those bandits have noticed you.'_

The bandits in question were slowly making their way over to the spot where Lyn was hiding, lead by a grinning Boss.

"There's nowhere to run now, girlie!" Boss chuckled. "It's been a long chase but- *thunk*"

Boss stopped momentarily to examine the arrow shaft growing out of his chest. Then he collapsed.

"Boss!" One of the bandits screamed, before a second arrow impaled him in the neck.

More and more arrows rained down onto the panicking group of bandits who, unlike Lyn and her group, were too stupid to get into hiding. Lyn covered her ears tightly to block out the horrific screams of the bandits. Soon the entire troupe had been slaughtered.

_'Thank you for reminding me._' Rath said, calmly. '_My master was quite insistent that the bandits were not the ones who killed you. I felt this was the most efficient way to deal with them.'_

_'Y-You monster!' _Lyn shuddered.

_'Not feeling sorry for them are you?' _Rath smiled. _'How very out of character for you. After all, it was bandits who slaughtered your tribe, wasn't it?'_

_'Don't listen to him!'_ Vesper growled. _'He's trying to get you riled up.'_

_'I-I know...' _Lyn sighed. _'Vesper, what should we do?'_

_'I can't tell you through telepathy, but I have a cunning plan...' _Vesper lied.

_'Really?' _Rath interrupted. _'I'm interested in how you'll be able to beat me without using any of your troops. Especially since they're all in my range and I know where they're all hiding. All thanks to you, of course.'_

_'... crap.'_

_'No, I can't make that shot!' _Wil yelled. _'It's too far!'_

_'It may seem impossible now, but if you truly believe in yourself when you loose the arrow, then you can hit even the most impossible targets!' _Vesper roared in what he thought sounded like a tough, macho voice.

_'No! I don't care what your rubbish emotional speeches say, it's too far!' _Wil yelled.

_'... fine.'_

_'I did tell you.'_ Rath sighed. _'A normal bow can't match my longbow.'_

_'It can with the power of friendship!' _

_'No it can't!' _Wil shouted.

_'So what do we do now?' _Lyn interrupted, before another argument could break out.

_'It looks like we're going to have a standoff.'_ Vesper shrugged. _'Rath isn't exactly going to let us go free and I don't think any of us wish to go out and get shot. So it's a matter of who cracks first.'_

_'Very true.' _Rath nodded. _'But you appear to have forgotten one simple thing...'_

There was a sudden 'thunk' and an arrow landed at the feet of the horse pulling the kidnappers wagon. The wagon which still had a tied up Nils in it...

_'Uh oh.'_

The horse, startled, bolted, leaping over the large tree in its path. The wagon had no such jumping ability. It smashed into the tree, knocking off both the wheels off and heavily damaging the main body. And the horse didn't stop there. It continued running, dragging the crippled wagon behind it, more and more pieces falling off.

_'Nils!' _Vesper cried, but there was no answer.

_'I have to go help him.'_ Lyn yelled.

_'But he'll shoot you!" _Vesper pointed out.

_'Indeed._' Rath nodded. _'Therein lies your dilemma.'_

_'Y-You bastard.' _Lyn growled. _'You'd really kill a child to get to me? I thought, as a nomad, you'd have more honour.'_

_'I dislike this as much as you do.' _Rath sighed. _'However, my mission comes first. If you accept your fate, then I will cut the rope tying the wagon to the horse and allow your troops to aid the boy.'_

_'Lyn, don't you dare!' _Vesper yelled.

_'Vesper... exit tactician mode.'_ Lyn sighed. _'I don't want you to die too.'_

_'I said, don't do it!'_

_'Vesper, remember what you said when that bandit took my clan hostage?'_

_'...' _There was silence for a moment._ "I'll never be able to convince you not to go, will I?"_

_"No."_ Lyn smiled.

_"Then good luck." _With that Vesper was gone.

Lyn gave a last sigh and stepped out to meet her fate...


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hope you guys appreciate this, but I've just had to use up my last reserve chapter, just so you'd have something before I go away on holiday. (I tend to write my chapters in advance, before I post them (ie, when I post Chapter 8, it's usually because I've finished Chapter 10) simply because I'm a massive perfectionist who always enjoys adding new ideas to previous chapters.)**_

_**Anyway... enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Rath drew his bow and aimed towards the helpless Lyn.

He really didn't want to have to do it, but he couldn't disobey his master's orders. The master who took him in when he had nowhere left to go. The master who helped and watched his training. The master who practically treated him, a mere nomad, as a son. Sure he had his vices. His sheer hatred for Madelyn Hausen and her kin was a pretty major one. But Rath was willing to forgive him for those and would loyally serve him for all of his days.

So why was he hesitating so much?

He had no problem trying to shoot her when she first arrived on the scene, so why were his hands shaking so much now? Perhaps it was her sheer willingness to sacrifice herself for the young boy trapped on the wagon? Perhaps it was her heartfelt farewell to Vesper? Perhaps it was something more...?

Rath shook these thoughts from his head and took aim. It was then that he heard the chanting.

"Blessed tome of St. Elimine, strike down this foe with your power..."

Rath's immediate thought was 'Crap.'

He dived out of the way as a bolt of Lightning struck the area he was standing in.

_'Kent, Sain! Now!' _Vesper yelled.

Kent and Sain immediately leapt out of their hiding place and began galloping after the crippled wagon. They managed to catch it with ease and cut the rope attaching it to the panicking horse. The wagon ground to a slow halt, allowing Kent and Sain to rescue an unconscious Nils from the wreckage and for Serra to heal him.

"What the-?!" Lyn gasped out loud. _'Vesper, I thought you'd quit tactician mode!'_

_'I lied.' _Vesper shrugged. '_I told you I had a cunning plan.'_

Rath, meanwhile, was trying to find the source of the chanting, while avoiding the random bolts of Lightning that struck around him. Eventually he found the source to be a cloaked figure, concealed behind a tree. Reaching for his dagger, he charged at the figure, who yelled in fright. Rath tackled the figure and was about to slit his throat when...

_'Hey Rath!'_ Vesper grinned. _'You may want to look up!'_

Rath barely managed to dive out of the way as Florina attempted to stab him from her pegasus. Scowling, Rath leapt onto his nearby horse and galloped away.

_'S-Should I chase after him?' _Florina asked, somehow still having a stutter even when talking telepathically.

_'No.'_ Vesper advised. _'He may have dropped his longbow, but he's probably got other weapons nearby. I can't risk losig troops.'_

_'Um...Does someone want to explain what just happened?' _Lyn asked.

_'Basically, you know how Rath said that I couldn't move any of my troops?' _Vesper began to explain.

_'Yeah...'_

_'He was wrong.' _Vesper grinned._ 'There was one troop I could move who, coincidentally, is my best soldier.'_

_'Who?'_

_'Me.' _Vesper announced smugly. _'While we were having that standoff with Rath, I made my way down to the nearby bar, only terrifying a few people in the process, and hired a bit of help...' _

Meanwhile, Sain dashed to where Rath had been hiing, in order to help the cloaked figure who had saved them.

"My beautiful darling, allow me to help you!" Sain offered. The figure's hood had dropped down to reveal long, blond hair and a feminine face.

"Thank you." The figure smiled, awkwardly. "But I'm afraid that-"

_'Sain, this is Lucius.' _Vesper grinned. _'**He**'s a travelling monk who, seeing Nils's plight, agreed to help us out.'_

...

"Lucinda, eh?" Sain smiled,his brain deliberately altering Vesper's words. "What a delightful name."

_'Sain, he's a dude.'_ Vesper sighed.

"Why yes, she is adorable!" Sain agreed, lost in his own little world.

_'... I have a feeling this may take a while...'_

While the group laughed among themselves, they'd failed to notice that, among the many bandit corpses, one was missing...

Boss the bandit leant against a tree as he carefully removed the arrowhead embedded in his chest.

"That damn nomad!" He growled. "Does he really think he's gotten the better of me?! Mark my words, I'll make it to Lady Lyndis before he does..."

After Serra had managed to calm Sain down with some 'anaesthetic', the group decided to make their way to the nearest town, in search of information on Nils's sister. In the meanwhile, Vesper wanted information on something completely different...

"Nils, how's your head?" Vesper asked. "Because I want to talk to you in private about something."

"It's alright." Nils sighed, rubbing it slightly. "It hurt a lot after the crash, but it's getting better."

"That's to the untrained eye, however!"Serra interrupted. "While the wound seems to be getting better, there's a high chance it could become infected, swell up, explode and kill the patient! Thus his doctor must be with him at all time, no matter what private matters are being discussed!"

...

"Serra, get out."

Serra hopped out of the wagon, grumbling discontently.

"A-Are you sure that my head won't explode?" Nils stuttered nervously.

"Quite sure." Vesper nodded. "Serra may be an excellent medic, but she's also bossy, traitorous and a compulsive liar."

"Oh."

"I swear, I haven't been this insulted since that time me and Erk were kidnapped by vicious, cannibalistic bandits!" Serra scowled. "Luckily, I managed to break free of my ropes and kick the crap out of them, before they could roast Erk alive, but it was still annoying."

"Um, okay..." Lucius wasn't sure what to say. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're a fellow priestess!" Serra exclaimed. "After all, us young, beautiful girls ahve to stick together. Because we're women!"

"Er..." Lucius scratched the back of his head, awkwardly. "i don't know how to tell you this Serra... but I'm actually a man."

"Oh don't worry." Serra winked. "I know you're only pretending to be a man, so Sain won't hit on you."

"No... I'm really a man."

"Oh..." There was an awkward silence. "So Matthew lied to me."

"Yup."

"How are you two lovely ladies doing today?" Sain grinned, trotting over on his horse.

"Sain, for the last time, I'm a man!" Lucius yelled, exasperated.

"My darling, I care not about your gender issues." Sain crooned, romantically. "Just know that you'll always be a beautiful priestess in my heart!"

"So you are a woman?"

"No!"

"Will you lot shut up?" Erk yelled, his ear pressed against the wagon. "I've trying to eavesdrop on Vesper and Nils!"

"My my Erk, do you often eavesdrop on private conversations?" Serra chuckled.

"No, that's something you do." Erk pointed out.

"...Good point." Serra shrugged. "Now move over, I want to listen in."

Back inside the wagon, unaware he was being spied on, Vesper began his interview...

"First of all, I want to ask you about the group who kidnapped you." Vesper began. "Who are they and why do they want you and your sister?"

"Um... I-I don't know." Nils answered, "I have no idea who the Black Fang are, or what they want!"

"So it was the Black Fang?"

"Gack!" Nils swallowed. "How did you know?!"

"...You just mentioned the Black Fang." Vesper pointed out. "Also that guy did sort of loudly mention that he was part of the Black Fang."

"No he didn't!" Nils lied. "It was your imagination! He said Back Flang!"

"... You're a really bad liar."

"Oh..." Nils attempted to change the subject. "So do you think Rath will attack again?"

"Don't try to change the subject."

"Sorry..." Nils looked guilty. "Look, I don't know much about the Black Fang itself, aside from that the people in it are really strong."

"I see..." Vesper scratched his chin. "And why are they after you and your sister?"

"Um..." Nils looked nervous. "Do I have to tell you?"

"No, not really."

"Huh?"

"If it's something you want to keep quiet, for personal reasons, then that's fine." Vesper shrugged. "As long as you're not witholding any information that'll put us at risk."

"I-I'm not!" Nils beamed.

"Good." Vesper smiled back. "Okay Serra, you can stop trying to eavesdrop and come back in now!"

"I wasn't eavesdropping." Serra gasped in shock, climbing back onto the wagon. "I was simply staying in close proximity just in case Nils's head wound got worse."

"Really...?" Vesper looked at her skeptically. "Then why were you eavesdropping, Sain?"

"Um..." Sain came into view, blushing slightly. "I was keeping in close proximity in case Nils's headwound caused him to go insane and attack you."

"Can that happen?!" Nils squeaked.

"No." Vesper sighed. "What about you Erk?"

"I was eavesdropping because I was wanting to hear what you were asking Nils." Erk shrugged.

"Good answer." Vesper nodded. "Serra, get off. Erk gets to ride up here."

"What?!"

"I'd rather not." Erk sighed. "Serra'd never shut up about it."

"Fair enough." Vesper shrugged. "Have Lyn, Kent or Matthew reported back yet?"

"Not yet." Erk answered.

Lyn and Kent had been sent to scout the area for any Black Fang members, while Matthew had been sent into town to gather information on Nils's sister.

"I-I can see Lyn and Kent!" Florina called. "They're heading this way!"

The two quickly galloped into view. Lyn dismounted the horse, ignored Sain's plea of everlasting love, and headed straight for the wagon.

"Good news, Vesper!" She grinned. "Apparently, in a nearby village, a young, blue-haired girl was rescued from a group of kidnappers, by some nobleman."

"Ninian!" Nils gasped.

"What about Matthew?" Vesper asked. "Is he with you?"

"No." Lyn shook her head. "He went to do some information gathering on his own."

"On what?"

"Dunno." Lyn shrugged. "He said he'd found a hot tip on some guy named Lundgren, but he didn't tell me anything more. He also said not to tell anyone except you."

"Lundgren!" Vesper gasped. "I see... I had come to the same conclusion myself."

"Who is he?" Lyn asked, curious.

"He's the brother of Marquess Hausen, making him your uncle." Vesper explained. "He was also next in line to the throne until you came along. I reckon he's probably the one who sent those bandits after you."

"R-Really?" Lyn reeled back at this information. "What kind of man is he, to hire a group of bandits to do his dirty work?!"

"I don't know." Vesper sighed. "We'll have to wait for Matthew's report..."

The group finally reached the village, where Ninian had apparently been rescued, only to find a very large crowd of villagers surrounding a small house in the middle of the village. Oddly, most of the crowd seemed made up of women...

"How are we going to get past this lot?" Lyn wondered.

"Simple." Vesper shrugged, heading into the crowd. "We just push our way through."

The young tactician vanished out of sight. A couple of minutes later, he emerged from the crowd, beaten and disorientated

"My God!" Vesper spluttered. "It was like trying to get past a brick wall... with hands!"

"You're hopeless." Lyn sighed. She walked up to one of the nearby villagers and tapped her on the shoulder. "Sorry, but could you excuse us for a second? We've got a relative of the kidnap victim here."

"Yeah right!" The villager snorted. "I bet you just want to get a closer look at that handsome prince guy!"

Lyn's eye twitched.

"Ooh, that was a bad move." Vesper winced.

The group finally managed to make their way through the crowd, mostly with the aid of pointy weapons. Lyn flung open the door of the small cottage to reveal a red-haired noble, a girl with long, blue hair and an elderly knight, all sitting around a table. The red-haired noble looked momentarily surprised. Then he spotted Vesper...

"Vesper?!" He gasped.

"Eliwood!" Vesper gasped back.

The two both grinned and gave each other a friendly embrace.

"It's been so long!" Eliwood grinned, slapping Vesper on the back. "How have you been?"

"I've gotten badly lost, almost died of heat exhaustion, almost got murdered by several bandits and somehow ended up leading a small army." Vesper shrugged. "So nothing new."

"Wait a minute!" Lyn interrupted. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah." Vesper nodded. "Lyn, meet Lord Eliwood of Pherae. His father, the Marquess, and my teacher were very close, so we spent a lot of time together when we were growing up."

"Delighted to meet you." Eliwood bowed. "You must the granddaughter of Marquess Hausen, who everyone's been talking about."

"Um, y-y-yes!" Lyn blushed, to her own embarassment. "N-Nice to meet you."

"Eliwood, how's Hector been?" Vesper suddenly felt the need to change the subject.

"As brick-headed as ever." Eliwood laughed. "I was just on my way to see him actually, when I ran into this girl."

"N-Nice to meet you." The young, blue-haired girl curtsied. "I'm-"

"Ninian!" Nils yelled, forcing his way into the house and jumping into his sisters arms.

"Nils!" Ninian gasped. "You're okay!"

"Uh huh!" Nils nodded. "These guys rescued me from the Black Fang."

"To be fair, we did kinda make things worse first." Vesper shrugged. "But things worked themselves out in the end."

"Lord Eliwood." The elderly knight seated at the table, suddenly spoke up. "Now that this matter has been settled, we should continue on to Ostia. It isn't good to stay in this troubled land for too long."

"Don't be so grumpy, Marcus!" Eliwood sighed. "It's been ages since I last saw Vesper."

"Wait a minute." Lyn interrputed. "What do you mean by 'this troubled land'?"

Just at that moment, Matthew burst in, panting heavily.

"It's like trying to get past a brick wall with hands, back there!" He gasped.

"Told you." Vesper smiled smugly. "Anyway, what did you find out?"

"Quite a lot." Matthew gave a deep sigh. "Perhaps this'd be best discussed in private?"

"I'm not going out there!" Wil spluttered. "They'll tear us to pieces!"

"Fine." Matthew sighed. "I'm sure you all know who Lord Lundgren is?"

"Yes." Vesper nodded. "Is he definitely the one ordering the attacks on Lyn?"

"I don't know for sure." Matthew admitted. "But apparently, the Caelin army has been making some suspicious movements. It almost looks like they're preparing for war."

"War...?" Vesper looked in deep thought. "Are they planning on attacking us? Getting a whole army seems like overkill."

"There's something else." Matthew sighed. "This may be hard for Lyn to hear, but there are some very nasty rumours going around, about the Marquess's sudden illness."

"What about it?" Lyn asked.

"They say it's not an illness at all." Matthew looked around nervously. "They say that the Marquess is being poisoned."

"Poisoned!" Lyn gasped.

"Yup." Matthew nodded. "It's a pretty common rumour, too. Lord Lundgren was never the most popular figure and, with these rumours, there's currently a lot of hate towards him. I reckon, if he takes power, there could be a civil war in Caelin."

"This is very interesting information." Eliwood nodded. "And I'll be the first to offer my support. I reckon I could organise an army to fight Lundgren, in no time whatsoever."

"That's a nice offer, but no." Vesper shook his head. "The people of this land are already on the brink of rebellion. Imagine how they'll react if a foreign army invades to unseat one of the rulers."

"... Good point." Eliwood sighed. "So what can I do?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." Vesper had a sudden idea. "We've been having problems with a certain nomad recently..."

After hearing of the situation, Eliwood and Marcus immediately rode off to organise a peace treaty with Araphen, leaving many disappointed village girls behind.

"What a day, eh?" Vesper grinned. "I didn't expect to see Eliwood here."

"You two are close, then?" Lyn asked.

"We were practically brothers, back in the day." Vesper shrugged. "Sharing bedrooms, being chased by Marcus for messing up the armoury, going hunting and that time we managed to lock Hector in a cellar..."

"You went hunting?" Lyn didn't believe this for a second.

"Well, Eliwood went hunting." Vesper admitted. "I just planned out everything.

"Fair enough." Lyn shrugged. "Now what do we do with these two?"

She pointed at Ninian and Nils, who were chatting silently by themselves.

"I guess we just taken them with us." Vesper decided. "We can't just let them be kidnapped by the Black Fang again."

"But if we take them with us, we'll have to deal with Lundgren and the Black Fang at the same time." Lyn pointed out.

"Are you seriously saying that you want to abandon the two of them?"

"Well... no." Lyn admitted. "I just felt that I should be the skeptical one for once."

"Fair enough." Vesper shrugged.

"Ninian!" Nils suddenly gasped. "What happened to your ring?!"

"Oh..." Ninian looked embarassed. "I guess those thugs must've taken it from me, when they kidnapped me. Don't worry, It's not that import-"

"But that's the only thing we have left from Mother!" Nils suddenly had an idea. "I know! I'll ask Vesper and Lyn to help us get it back!"

He ran over to the two and explained the situation to them.

"Listen Nils..." Lyn tried to let the boy down gently. "We have a lot of important things to do and we can't risk losing troops just to-"

"We'll do it!" Vesper interrupted.

"You will?!" Nils beamed.

"We will?!" Lyn gasped, surprised.

"Yup." Vesper nodded. "We'll head out immediately."

"That's great!" Nils grinned. "I'll tell Ninian immediately!"

He ran off back to his sister with the good news.

"Why-?"

"Why do you think?" Vesper sighed. "I want more information on the Black Fang and this'll be the easiest way to get it."

"That makes sense, I guess..." Lyn shrugged. "But don't you think it'll be dangerous?"

"Pfft, we're only going to march into the lair of a malicious kidnapping group with unknown motives." Vesper muttered, sarcastically. "What could possibly be dangerous about it?"

Little did the two know that, nearby, they were being eavesdropped upon by a familiar figure.

"The Black Fang's lair, eh." Rath muttered. "No matter what happens, Lyn, the chase will end there..."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 **

_**I'm back! Sorry you've had to wait so long for a new chapter, but I was kinda preoccupied with my One Piece fanfic. However, since that got unjustly deleted, I've felt more of an urge to return to this, so expect more chapters to come soon. But first, I want to respond for some criticism.**_

_**Hexist: I agree with you completely. I will openly admit there are quite a lot of OoC moments, compared to the games. But this isn't the game. As I mentioned to Gunlord500, if you keep 100% to the game then it's no fun. In the game, Araphen isn't a villain, Rath doesn't attempt to kill Lyn and Ephidel isn't a tactician. While I'm not saying that characters should be written completely OoC (eg, making Sain a timid coward), but it should be fine to add new dimensions to a character's personality (eg, giving Kent a fear of ghosts). Not to mention, considering how we only really get a few insights into a character's personality, via the support conversations, you can have a lot of different character interpretations. I never really considered Serra and Matthew to be acting out of character in those moments, until you pointed it out. So while I can see why you consider it a problem, I don't think it's all that bad.**_

_**JamesBCrazy: I was originally planning on just ignoring this comment but it's pissed me off so much, I have to respond to it. Now, I'm not annoyed because you called my character a Marty Stu. I'm annoyed because you called my character a Marty Stu with absolutely no reasoning or evidence behind your statement. While this may sound bias, coming from the creator, but Vesper is not, nor shall he ever be a Marty Stu. Why? Because I take deliberate steps to make sure he isn't. He's completely useless when it comes to physical combat, he's often the Butt Monkey of a situation and his plans don't always work. Hence, he is not a Marty Stu. I have no problem with people taking a dislike to one of my characters, or my story, but I expect them to back up their statements with reasoning and evidence, like Hexist. If you don't, then don't expect me to take your criticism seriously. **_

* * *

"And this information is accurate?" Ursula asked her subordinate.

"D-Definitely ma-am!" Her subordinate, Beyard nodded. "The Marquess's grand daughter is headed this way with her party!"

"Hmm..." Ursula thought a moment. "This would be a perfect opportunity to erase the girl..."

"Evacuate the base." A voice behind her sounded. "Then burn it to the ground."

"Lord Ephidel!" Ursula turned and saluted.

"The one and only." Epidel gave a creepy smile. "While we could easily crush the opposing army, if one of them escapes and reports what we're up to..."

"I understand!" Ursula nodded. "Beyard, give the order to evacuate the men. Make sure they leave no evidence!"

"Yes ma-am!" Beyard saluted, before running off. Ursula waited until he had gone, before continuing her conversation with Ephidel.

"What about the blue-haired siblings?" She asked. "I thought your master wanted them captured."

"True." Ephidel admitted. "But what Master Nergal doesn't know, can't hurt him. They can be recaptured at a later date. I consider this plan much more important."

"I agree." Ursula nodded. "Soon Lycia will be thrown into chaos..."

* * *

"How much farther until we reach the Black Fang base...?" Vesper groaned.

"It shouldn't be too far now." Ninian assured him.

"Ninian, I don't mean to doubt your sense of direction..." Vesper smiled politely. "But you said that **two days ago!**"

"Hey, are you doubting my sister's direction?!" Nils growled.

"Yes." Vesper answered, bluntly. "Since we seem to have been going around in circles for the last few days, I'd say I'm doubting your sister's directions very much. What are you going to do about it, pipsqueak?"

"Don't call me pipsqueak!" Nils leapt at Vesper and the two began tussling.

"You two stop fighting, or I'm kicking you off the carthorse!" Lyn yelled.

"I'm sorry about all this trouble." Ninian apologised. "I wish I could remember the way better."

"Don't worry about it." Lyn smiled. "Besides, you have a better sense of direction than Vesper."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Vesper lied.

"Of course you don't." Lyn sighed, sarcastically. "After all, you're the genius who discovered a new shortcut between Ilia and the Western Isles. By going completely the wrong way."

"Well, I haven't gotten lost since then!" Vesper protested.

"That's because Kent's been taking care of all the directions." Lyn pointed out.

"True." Vesper admitted. "But I helped!"

"If we'd followed your directions we'd have ended up in the middle of a lake." Kent chimed in.

"Technically, that was a marsh!" Vesper corrected. "Speaking of, I'm surprised we haven't ended up in a marsh, with Ninian's sense of direction."

"Stop insulting my sister!" Nils charged at Vesper and the two began fighting again

"And that's why I got kicked off the carthorse." Vesper finished.

"I told you we should've had that kid killed." Matthew nodded. "I'd still be willing to do that job if you pay me."

"I'll give you a 20% pay rise." Vesper decided.

"You don't pay me anything." Matthew pointed out.

"Exactly."

...

"Eh, I would've done it for less." Matthew shrugged. "Make sure you have an alibi for tomorrow night."

"You are joking, right?" Vesper felt the need to check.

"Well..." Matthew scratched his head. "I do need the practise. Most thieves are eventually promoted into assassins. Either that or a rogue."

"What's the difference between a normal thief and a rogue?" Vesper asked.

"I suppose rogues are more lovable and dashing." Matthew shrugged.

"Yeah, you'd be best as an assassin." Vesper agreed.

"Thanks for that..."

"Everybody get ready!" Lyn yelled. "We're getting close!"

"Getting close, eh?" Vesper sighed. "I bet we're not going to get there for at least a week..."

* * *

**A few minutes later**

"A-Are you sure this was the place, Ninian?" Lyn gasped, looking over the wreckage of the former Black Fang base.

"I'm certain of it." Ninian nodded. "But this..."

There was very little left of the Black Fang base and what was left had been very badly built. While most of the walls were still standing, the roof had collapsed, covering the floor ina thick layer of rubble. In its prime, it might've been a fortress or a castle of some sort, but now it was just a set of old, crumbling ruins.

"Do you think it burned down by accident?" Kent suggested.

"No." Vesper began examining the ground around the ruins. "The fire has been started in specific areas, to make sure the entire place burns down with maximum efficiency. This was done on purpose."

"An enemy attack?" Lyn wondered, drawing her sword.

"No." Vesper finished examining the ground and shook his head. "Not unless the fortress was abandoned at the time. Parts of the fire started from the inside. My guess is they did it themselves to hide something from us."

"Hide what?" Lyn asked.

"I don't know." Vesper admitted. "We should take a look inside and check."

He got to his feet and was about to head inside, when Lyn grabbed his collar and dragged him back.

"Not so fast." She sighed. "We have no idea what's in there. If they were really trying to hide stuff from us, then who's to say they didn't booby trap the place."

"Good point." Vesper nodded. "We'll have to send our most expendable unit in first. Matthew?"

"Why am I most expendable?!" Matthew questioned.

"Because you're pretty untrustworthy." Vesper explained. "Not to mention, you're not exactly of much use in large-scale battle."

"True..." Matthew admitted. "But so's Nils!"

"Nils makes better bait than you do." Vesper shrugged.

"I get the feeling you guys don't like me much..." Nils sulked.

"Besides..." Vesper continued, ignoring Nils. "As a thief, you'll have a better chance of avoiding and disabling any booby traps you come across."

"I guess..." Matthew still didn't seem happy.

"If you don't go, I'll tell Sain that you stuffed his pillow with horse manure." Vesper decided to use his last resort.

"He did what?!"

"Gotta go!" Matthew scampered into the ruins, narrowly avoiding a well-thrown javelin from Sain.

"So now what do we do?" Lyn asked.

"We wait." Vesper sighed. "And hope."

* * *

**One hour later**

"Well, he's dead." Vesper announced. "Any new ideas?"

"Don't be so impatient." Lyn sighed. "It's only been an hour since he went in."

"I guess..." Vesper admitted. "But this base isn't exactly huge. I doubt it'd really take him that long to explore the whole place."

"He's probably just trying to avoid Sain." Lyn glanced over at the green-haired knight in question, who was currently sharpening his sword intensely. "He was pretty annoyed about that whole 'manure' thing."

"To be fair, it was pretty funny though." Vesper chuckled.

"True." Lyn managed to hold back a snigger, before turning back to her serious face. "But it was very inappropriate too."

"This coming from the person who tied us up and left us dangling from a tree?" Vesper countered. "Even though we could've been attacked at any moment?"

"We were camped on a good vantage spot." Lyn pointed out. "If we were about to be attacked, we'd have spotted the enemies and cut you down before they even got close."

"I guess..." Vesper admitted. "But it was still really uncomfortable."

"I'd second that." A voice suddenly sounded, as Matthew dropped down from a tree, almost landing on a terrified Vesper.

"Gaah!" Vesper jumped back in surprise, almost tripping over a sleeping Nils.

"Hey Matthew." Lyn seemed relatively unfazed. "So you're not dead then?"

"Nope." The golden-haired thief grinned. "Sorry I took so long. I was just waiting for the perfect moment to take my revenge on Vesper."

"Revenge?!" Vesper attempted to get over his brief shock. "Revenge for what?"

Matthew and Lyn both pointed to Sain.

"Touche..."

"Anyway, what do you have to report?" Lyn asked. "What's in there?"

"Pretty much nothing but rubble." Matthew sighed. "This place was stripped pretty well. Anything that wasn't already taken got burnt in the fire. Couldn't find any booby traps though, so I reckon it's safe to go in."

"Good." Lyn signalled to the rest of the group. "We'd better keep up our guard though. I don't know much about the Black Fang, but I don't intend to underestimate them."

* * *

"Hurry up Nils!" Ninian called. "You don't want to be left behind!"

"I'm coming!" Nils yawned. "I'm just a bit sleepy..."

"Enough chatter at the back!" Vesper yelled. "You'll give our position away to any enemies!"

"You're the one yelling the loudest!" Lyn gave Vesper a thump on the head. "Anyway, it looks like Matthew was right. There's nothing here but rubble."

The group had climbed over piles and piles of rubble as they made their way through the Black Fang base. Serra had almost twisted her ankle, walking over some of it, and now she insisted that Erk carried her everywhere. Needless to say, he wasn't happy about that...

"I guess you're right." Vesper admitted. "We're probably not going to find anythi- huh?"

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He knelt down to the ground and began brushing debris away.

"What is it?!" Lyn asked. "What have you found?!"

"Look at the ground here!" Vesper grinned. "What can you tell about it?"

"Er..." Lyn took a closer look at the ground. "It's... slightly burnt?"

"True." Vesper admitted. "But, if you take a closer look, the burnt areas are a slightly different shade of colour to the rest of the ground around here. Also, the ground seems much too smooth for typical terrain around here."

"Really..." Lyn sounded just a little bit skeptical at this 'deduction' of Vesper's.

"Believe me, I spent an entire month studying field terrain, during my training." Vesper reassured her.

"So what does it mean?" Lyn asked.

"Someone's buried something here." Vesper answered. "And we need to dig it up..."

"And by 'we' you mean..."  
"You lot." Vesper admitted. "I don't do the whole 'physical labour' thing very well."

"You don't do the whole 'physical labour' thing _at all_." Lyn corrected.

"See! Now you get it!" Vesper grinned.

"Um guys..." Nils tried to interrupt.

"Not now, Nils." Vesper sighed. "We're in the middle of something."

"But-"

"I think you'd best listen to the boy." A very familiar voice growled.

...

"Please tell me that's not who I think it is..." Vesper groaned.

Rath cracked a very slight smile, as he tightened his arm around Nils's neck.

"Sorry to disappoint."

* * *

"You!" Lyn drew her sword in fury. The rest of the group followed suit, drawing their weapons.

"Put those away." The normally unflappable Rath had the slightest quiver of nervousness in his voice as he faced down the small army. "I only want to talk."

"Oh yeah, it totally looks like you just want to talk." Sain scoffed.

"Coward!" Lyn growled. "You'd take a child hostage just to get to me?! Where's your nomad honour?!"

"Nomad honour?!" Rath's face turned red with fury. "Why should I care about the honour of a group of savages, who cast me out without reason!"

"Savages?!" Lyn looked almost as furious. "The nomads are the noblest of people! They'd never cast someone out without good reason!"

"Oh really?" Rath snarled. "My people left me in the middle of a stinking desert all because of some stupid prophecy! And I was only a child at the time! Had Marquess Araphen not rescued me, I would've died for certain!"

"Um, can I say something?" Vesper asked.

"No!" Lyn and Rath yelled in unison.

"I don't care what your tribe did to you, taking a child hostage is just cowardly!" Lyn shouted.

"I mean no harm to the child-" Rath tried to get his temper under control.

"That incident with the wagon begs to differ." Lyn pointed out.

"I would've rescued him whether or not you came out." Rath growled.

"As if I'd believe that!" Lyn scowled. "You're the kind of scum who deserves to die with a dagger in his back!"

Unfortunately, her eyes momentarily gave her away. Rath spun around to see Matthew attempting to sneak up on him. Realising he'd been spotted, Matthew charged at Rath but was quickly dispatched by a boot to the gut. However, in the brief distraction, Nils managed to sink his teeth into Rath's arm. Rath screamed in pain, giving Nils the chance to slip out of his grasp and run clear. Wil drew his bow back, preparing to shoot Rath, but before he could, Lyn charged towards Rath, sword drawn. Rath drew a knife from his belt, to defend himself, but Lyn smashed it out of his hands and knocked him to the ground with a kick.

"Lyn! Stop!" Vesper yelled.

Lyn's blade halted, a few centimetres away from Rath's throat.

"This better be important, Vesper." Lyn growled. "I want to gut this murderous snake."

"He said he just wanted to talk." Vesper glared at her. "I want to hear what he has to say."

"If he just wanted to talk, then why did he take Nils hostage?" Lyn asked.

"Because we'd kill him on the spot." Vesper pointed out. "By the way, I think he's having trouble breathing, with that boot in his gut."

Lyn looked down at the spluttering Rath and removed her foot from his stomach.

"Besides..." Vesper continued. "If he really wanted to harm Nils, he'd have used that knife in his belt, rather than just using his arms."

"I guess..." Lyn thought a moment. "Fine, we'll hear what he has to say."

With that she drew her sword and walked away. Before Rath could even have a breather, he was dragged to his feet by Dorcas and Kent, who tied his arms together.

"Thank you for that." Rath sighed in relief. "It's nice that someone here has some self contr-"

Vesper punched him in the face.

"Let's get this straight." He growled, with a dark look on his face. "I'm as pissed off with you as Lyn is. I'm tempted just to let her kill you, but, for whatever reason, I want to hear what you have to say. So you'd better make it good."

"I want to join you." Rath blurted out.

...

"I'm sorry?"

* * *

"No!" Lyn spluttered. "He is not joining us!"

"Lyn, don't be hasty." Vesper sighed, rubbing his hand in mild pain. "He'd definitely make a useful ally. Look at how much trouble he was when he was an enemy!"

"How do we know he's still not an enemy?!" Lyn pointed out. "He claims that he recieved a message from Marquess Araphen telling him not to attack us any more, but how do we know that isn't a trick to get close to us?"

"Good point." Vesper admitted. "Tell you what, we'll keep him tied up until Eliwood returns and confirms what he said. That fair?"

"But why would he want to help us?" Lyn asked. "He says that he wasn't ordered to return by Araphen, so he decided to join us, but why would he join his enemies so easily?"

"He did help us out when we were jailed by Araphen." Vesper pointed out. "Besides, I don't think he despises his nomad heritage quite as much as he claims."

Lyn immediately flashed back to when she had first met Rath.

"_One day I hope to return to my tribe..."_

"Alright." She finally sighed. "He can come along."

"Okay then." Vesper nodded. He suddenly winced in pain. "Ow! I think I must've broke something in my hand, when I punched Rath!"

Lyn barely held down a chuckle. "That was pretty impressive of you."

"Thanks." Vesper grinned. "I bet he'll think twice before messing with me!"

"Actually, he really didn't seem that hurt." Lyn admitted. "I think your punching technique could use some work."

"Why do I have the feeling that's not gonna end particularly well for me...?"

"Lyn! Vesper!" Kent suddenly yelled. "I think you'll want to take a look at this!"

Lyn and Vesper moved across the rubble to where Kent and Sain had been digging.

"What did you find?" Vesper asked.

"Take a look for yourself." Kent sighed, looking a little green. "But it's not a pretty sight..."

Vesper knelt down into the dirt to a closer look at what Kent was pointing out. Suddenly, he let out a slight gasp and scampered backwards.

Buried in the dirt was a decomposing, severed hand...


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

_**New Chapter Time! And it's a support conversation one! Anyway, sorry it's taken so long but, with me being back at school, I haven't had as much time to work on any of my stories. For that same reason, the next chapter's probably gonna take a while too.**_

_**Now, originally, I was planning on posting my response to certain reviews up here, but, after writing the response to a certain review, I spotted that my response was almost as long as this chapter itself... So I placed my responses at the bottom so people can skip over them as they wish. **_

_**Now, originally, I was planning on making this a regular chapter but the conversation between Rath and Lyn grew so long that eventually it just became easier to add a Matthew/Nils support (which was something I'd wanted to address for a while, since I felt Matthew's dislike of Nils was growing out of control). This support chapter is much more serious than the last one and, in fact, it's pretty serious compared to most chapters in this story. So enjoy!**_

_**Supports**_

**Vesper + Lyn + Rath**

**Matthew + Nils**

**Vesper + Kent + Sain**

**Lyn + Rath (B Level)**

* * *

"I found another one over here!" Erk suddenly called, from where he'd been digging.

"That makes 17 bodies now." Vesper groaned. "What the hell have they been doing here?!"

After discovering the severed hand, the group had dug up the ground around it, in search of its owner. Instead, they found 3 more bodies, all with grievous battle wounds. While digging those up, they found even more bodies. And more. And more.

"It's like some sort of mass grave." Lyn grimaced.

"It _is _a mass grave." Vesper scowled. "But who's in it?"

"Maybe it's a dumping ground for the Black Fang's enemies?" Lyn suggested. "Villagers who rebelled against them, or something?"

"I don't think so." Vesper shook his head. "All the bodies weve found are in a similar state of decomposition, suggesting they were all killed and buried at around the same time, about a month ago. Also, if it was just a pit of enemies, then I'd expect to see a few women or children in here. Not to mention, they've been stripped of most of their clothes. There's no reason you'd do this for some simple villagers."

"That makes sense." Lyn nodded. "So who are they then?"

"I don't know." Vesper admitted. "They're too decomposed for me to be able to tell anything else about them

"Let me take a look." Rath offered, running over. "I might be able to spot something."

"We're not untying you." Lyn growled at him.

"I wasn't asking you to." Rath shot her a brief glare, before bending down to take a closer look.

"Look Rath..." Vesper sighed. "No offense, but if I couldn't spot anything more, then I doubt you ca-"

"They're soldiers." Rath interrupted.

"Huh?"

"They're soldiers." Rath repeated. "Look at the blisters on their feet. You only get that way from many weeks heavy marching. There are smaller ones on their hands, from lifting and practising with heavy weapons. Also, the wounds on their bodies are much more shallow than what you'd usually expect, suggesting they were wearing armour. Thus suggesting they were all soldiers."

"Blisters?" Vesper grabbed a foot to take a closer look. It promptly came off in his hand, but that didn't seem to fase him. "I can't see any blisters! It's too decomposed!"

"I'd point them out to you if you'd untie me." Rath suggested. "Anyway, they're barely visible, but the fact that they're visible at all shows how bad they were, when the victim was alive."

"And how do you know so much about corpses?" Lyn gave Rath a scornful look.

Rath ignored the venom in Lyn's voice and began to explain. "Marquess Araphen often sent me on missions to eliminate... troublemakers in Araphen-"

"Like innocent women and children?" Lyn scowled.

"That's enough." Vesper said sharply. "Rath, continue."

"As I was saying..." Rath shot Lyn a glance. "The sorts of people I was sent after, often left a trail of bodies behind them. In order to help track them down, I quickly learnt how to deduct things from the bodies left, hence why I can identify features of a decomposing corpse better than most people."

"And you're certain they're soldiers?" Vesper asked.

"Definitely." Rath nodded. "Although where they're from and why they're here still eludes me."

"Okay." Vesper thought a moment. "Hey Lyn, can I borrow your sword?"

"What for?" Lyn asked, skeptically.

"I'll explain later." Vesper reassured her. "Now can I have it?"

"Fine." Lyn grudgingly passed him her sword.

"Good." Vesper strained under the weight of the sword. "Now, if we're going to be travelling together, you and Rath need to sort out your differences. I know you're annoyed since Rath tried to kill you... and endangered Nils... twice... and led you into Araphen's trap... and-" Vesper suddenly reminded himself that he was trying to make Lyn _forgive_ Rath. "Anyway, you two need to work something out so you're not just snapping at each other all the way."

"So why did you take my sword?" Lyn asked.

"So you wouldn't gut Rath once my back was turned." Vesper answered bluntly.

"Do you really think I'd-?"

"Yes."

"...Good point." Lyn admitted.

"Well then, I'll leave you two to it." Vesper nodded, before heading off, dragging Lyn's sword behind him.

...

There was a long and awkward silence between Lyn and Rath. Eventually Lyn said something.

"He forgot about my hidden dagger."

* * *

"Nils! Where are you going?!" Ninian called after her brother, who was scampering over a pile of rubble. "Vesper said to stick together!"

"I'll be right back!" Nils promised. "I just need to do something!"

Nils searched around the base, until he found what he was looking for. Nuzzled up in a corner, hidden by a large chunk of rubble, was Matthew nursing his wounds.

"What are you doing here?" Matthew asked.

"H-Here!" Nils reached into his pockets and pulled out some bread. "I brought you something to eat!"

Matthew blinked in surprise. "Really?!" He gave a suspicious look. "It's not poisoned, is it?"

"Why would it be poisoned?" Nils looked confused.

"Er... No reason." Matthew took the bread and began sniffing it suspiciously, before taking a bite out of it.

"How're your injuries?" Nils asked.

"Pretty bad." Matthew winced in pain. "I think I must've broken a rib, when Rath kicked me."

"I'm sorry..." Nils's head sunk.

"Why are you apologising?" Matthew asked, confused.

"If I hadn't let Rath catch me, then-"

"Don't worry about it!" Matthew grinned. "These things happen! Admittedly, not to me, because I'm awesome, but they happen!"

"Why did you help me?" Nils asked. "I... I thought you didn't like me much."

"What gave you that idea?" Matthew asked.

"You repeatedly saying that you disliked me." Nils answered, bluntly. "And I overheard you offering to assassinate me."

"I was joking around." Matthew grinned. "I wasn't actually going to do it. It's like Sain and Kent. Sain acts like Kent's always 'cramping his style' and 'scaring away the ladies', while Kent acts like he considers Sain to be a complete idiot... Well, okay, he probably does think Sain's a complete idiot. Most of us do. But when the two are in battle, their teamwork can't be matched. A lot of us may act like jerks to each other when we're out of battle, but when the chips are down, there's no-one more reliable."

"O-Okay!" Nils beamed. "By the way, aren't you going to help with the digging?"

"Well, I'd like to..." Matthew lied. "But I'm afraid this injury is just too painful for me to do any work."

"But I thought Serra already healed that?" Nils pointed out. "She said that it was as good as new."

...

"Alright, I'm just really lazy and hate manual labour." Matthew admitted. "Please don't tell anyone. I'll give you this!"

He tossed Nils a small golden ring.

"My sister's ring!" Nils gasped, catching the ring.

"I found it in the debris, when I first searched through the base." Matthew explained. "Apparently it's not worth much money, so I decided to give it back."

"Th-Thanks!" Nils beamed, before scrambling away to show Ninian.

Matthew smiled as he watched Nils celebrating with his sister. Then, the full implications of what he'd just done hit him.

"Gaaah!" He cried, clutching his head in his hands. "What am I doing?! That ring was worth a small fortune! And now Nils is going to tell everyone I'm a nice guy! My reputation will be ruined! If Leila saw me now she'd laugh her head off!"

"Wait!" An idea suddenly sprung into his head. "If I pull a really nasty prank on someone, then that should balance things out! And I've got a great idea! Now I just need to think of the perfect person to play it on..."

* * *

"Vesper... what are you doing?" Kent sighed, not really wanting to know the answer.

Vesper was currently laid down across his back, with Lyn's sword lying on top of him.

"What does it look like?" Vesper growled. "I'm stuck!"

"Stuck on what?" Sain asked, scratching his head.

"Um..." Vesper had an embarrassed look on his face. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"I make no promises." Kent and Sain said, almost simultaneously.

"...Lyn's sword is too heavy..." Vesper finally admitted. "I think it must have some weird curse on it which makes it incredibly heavy if anyone but Lyn carries it. That's the only logical expla-"

"Seems liftable to me." Kent picked up the sword with one hand.

"... showoff..."

"Hey, what are you doing with Lyn's sword in the first place?" Sain wondered. Then his romance obsessed mind came to its logical conclusion. "Oh! Were you-?!"

"No." Vesper decided to kill that rumour before it could bloom. "I was just trying to help reduce the animosity between her and Rath."

"What?!" Kent gasped. "You left the two of them together?! What if Rath escapes and kills her?!"

"Or worse!" Sain screamed. "What he _seduces_ her?! I've of all sort of ways that men like him win over pure, young maidens like my darling Lyn and-"

"Remind me never to let you speak... ever..." Kent groaned, his head in his hands.

"Relax." Vesper sighed. "We already checked Rath for weapons and Lyn can take care of herself."

"Even without her sword?" Kent pointed out. "Why do you have that anyway?"

"To make sure Lyn didn't kill Rath, while I was away." Vesper explained.

"That makes sense." Kent nodded. "And you conviscated her hidden dagger?"

The colour drained from Vesper's face.

"Oh God..."

* * *

Remarkably, Lyn hadn't killed Rath yet. Instead, the two just sat in silence, unable to look at each other. Rath was afraid that, if he spoke, Lyn would end up killing him. Lyn was afraid that, if she spoke, she would end up killing him. So they just sat in silence.

Eventually, Rath worked up the courage to say something.

"I'm sorry."

Lyn grunted something which Rath couldn't make out. He had a feeling it wasn't exactly pleasent, though.

The silence continued again, until Lyn eventually spoke.

"When you called your people 'savages'... did you really mean that?"

Rath was silent for a few minutes.

"I don't know." He eventually answered. "There's no doubt I hate my people for what they did, but... part of me still believes that they were only doing what they thought was right, and what would be best for me. And I don't know whether to hate them more or less for that."

"Yet you still work for Marquess Araphen." Lyn growled.

"Marquess Araphen is a good man." Rath had a faint smile on his lips. "Just when I was on the brink of death, and had almost lost all hope, he found me and treated me like his own son. You may find this hard to believe, but he genuinely cares about his people and his country. It's just... memories of Madelyn bring out the worst in him. I was hoping, when I let you escape, that he'd give up on his plans of revenge... but it was not to be. He was genuinely heartbroken when Madelyn and his grief, over time, slowly turned to bitterness. In fact, he was very much like you were, when Vesper left. Heartbroken."

"What?!" That last comment took Lyn by surprise. "What are you talking about?! I-I wasn't heartbroken when Vesper left!"

"Oh, sorry." Rath tried to hold back a snigger. "I shouldn't have said that."

Lyn looked like she was about to whip out her dagger and gut him right then and there. She managed to stop herself at the last moment and turned away, with an angry look on her face.

"You know, you're kinda cute when you're angry." Rath teased.

Instead of getting even more angry at the taunt, Lyn took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"Don't try to test my patience." She growled.

"Sorry." Rath apologised, with a slight smile still on his face. "I just wanted to see how you'd react."

"Are you satisfied?" Lyn scowled.

"Kinda." Rath admitted. "I guess you really are like your mother."

"You knew my mother?!" Lyn gasped.

"Barely." Rath explained. "I'd been in Araphen's household for about a week, before she eloped. I only met her the one time. She... She looked a lot like you... Lyn..."

Lyn was silent for a long time. Rath sat patiently by her side. Eventually, she spoke.

"'You're kinda cute when you're angry?'" She smiled. "What kind of cliched, hackneyed line was that?

"A pretty bad one, I'll admit." Rath smiled back. "I was just wanting to know what you'd do."

"Tch." Lyn scowled, jokingly. "That's the sort of rubbish line I'd expect from Sain."

"Sain?"

"The knight in the green armour." Lyn explained. "He's basically a womanising idiot. With emphasis on the 'womanising'. And the 'idiot'."

"You choose good companions." Rath snickered.

"I'd rather he had my back, than you." Lyn growled. "Not because you're untrustworthy, which you are, but because he's a very competent fighter. Not that I'd ever say that to his face."

"You still don't trust me, then?" Rath sighed.

Lyn was slightly ataken back by this.

"No." She admitted. "Does that surprise you?"

"No." Rath shook his head. "I've tried to do terrible things to you. You have every right not to trust me. It's just..."

"Just what?" Lyn looked at him curiously.

"Part of me really wants you to trust me." Rath admitted. "I don't know why, but it's constantly eating away at me. Do you- Do you think you'll ever be able to trust me?"

"I don't know..." Lyn admitted.

The two sat in silence for a while.

"Rath..." Lyn eventually spoke. "What you told me in Araphen... on your horse... was it true?"

"Which part?" Rath asked. "Do I feel sorry about what happened to the Lorca, and your family? Is my master kind and honorable? They're all true, no matter how much you may disagree with that second one."

"Do you wish to return to your tribe, one day?"

Rath froze.

"I-"

"GIRL!" A sudden roar distracted the two of them.

In the doorway, Boss the Bandit stood hefting a massive javelin.

"DIE!" He screamed, throwing the javelin towards the two of them.

"Lyn, look out!" Rath shouldered Lyn out of the way.

"Rath, no!" Lyn yelled, as the nomad faced the oncoming javelin head on.

"Get out of the way!" Boss roared.

"Huh?"

The javelin shot past Rath's head, cutting him across the cheek and slammed into a small pile of debris which, to everyone's surprise, suddenly began to move! The 'debris' began thrashing about in pain, clutching at the spear impaling it. Eventually, the very well camoflagued Black Fang assassin dropped to the ground, dead.

"Phew, that was a close one." Boss wiped his brow. "What were you two idiots doing, diving in the way there?"

Lyn and Rath were too speechless to say anything. Just at that moment, Vesper, Kent and Sain burst into the room.

"Wha-What's going on?!" Vesper gasped.

Kent and Sain simply looked at Boss, a man they already knew to be their enemy, and charged, despite being completely weaponless. Boss slammed them both into the ground, with a well timed couple of punches.

"Bah! You brats are several years too young to challenge me to a surprise wrestling match!" Boss laughed. "I thought you two had learnt that during your training!"

"Huh?" Kent and Sain looked up in puzzlement.

"Wait?" Vesper looked in puzzlement. "Do you two know that guy?"

"No!" Kent exclaimed. "At least... I don't think so..."

"Oh come on!" Boss scowled. "Are you serious? I know I shaved my beard, but are you seriously saying you don't recognise me?!"

"Beard...?" Sain and Kent looked at each other in confusion. Then, a glimmer of recognition crossed their face.

"No, it couldn't be." Kent chuckled.

"Yeah, exactly!" Sain chuckled in agreement. "It couldn't be... could it?"

"Could it...?" The two decided to test their theory. "General Wallace?"

"Damn straight!" General Wallace of the Caelin Knights (retired) nodded. "Who the hell did you think it was?"

The entire group looked at each other and said the only word that could come to mind.

"Huh?!"

* * *

_**Now it's time for me to answer some of my reviews. Feel free to skip over this if you want to. It's not pretty.**_

_**Tom-Ato13: I wouldn't go so far as to call it a complete parody. While I definitely put plenty of humour into the series, it does have its serious moments.**_

_**Koreaon Boron: Well, it's nice to hear your views. Here's my response. Before you start reading, I want to point out that I'm not having a go at you. Whenever I respond to a review, I attempt to argue my point in a calm and civilised manner. However, I happen to have quite an agressive debating style which people often wrongly assume is me getting angry at them (especially over the internet where you can't accurately gauge someone's tone of voice), so I just want to make this quite clear. Also, if you're going to reply, could you get an account and PM me please, because I really don't want to have to stick something like this in my story again.**_

_**I'll begin by talking about Rath. I admit I have slightly changed his personality to make him much more talkative (because Dorcas is already the stoic of the group and I really don't need two.) However, I don't think Rath betraying and hating his people is that OOC for him. It's merely an alternate (and perfectly legitimate) interpretation of his character. Let's take a look at his backstory. He was abandoned at the age of four because of his prophecy. He wandered the plains for several years, always on the verge of starvation while people of other tribes laughed and ridiculed him. And you're telling me that it's that hard to believe that Rath might have some feelings of hatred towards his clan? As I mentioned last chapter, all we get, to find out about a character, are the support conversations, and we often don't find out much, so we have to fill the gaps ourselves. Before I introduce a character, I always make sure to research them and read all their support conversations. Then, once I've got a firm grasp on their personality, I make my own adjustments so that they fit into the story better.**_

_**Now, as for Marty Stu's, you really don't have to be the best writer in the world to avoid making the tactician a Stu. You barely even have to be a competent one. A Stu is basically classed as a character who's completely perfect, exceptionally talented in many different things and succeeds at pretty much everything they do, with little effort. To un-Stu a character, all you have to do is is give them flaws and weaknesses in their skills and personalities. Which Vesper has plenty of. To give my own personal views on the subject, I don't like the 'Mary Sue' term much. Now, I'm not saying that Mary Sues aren't a bad thing, because they are. I more dislike the obsession that the fanfic community have with the term, and how some people have exaggerated it to basically mean a character who's good at anything, leading to perfectly well-rounded characters being unfairly labelled Mary Sues. I could go into a much larger rant, but I'll choose not to for now.**_

_**For the next point, let's discuss pairings. I will say this right here and now to make it perfectly clear. I do not care about pairings in the slightest. I will never care about pairings. I don't read stories for pairings. Heck, I haven't even decided on the final pairings for this story. I've never actually confirmed Lyn/Vesper to be the main pairing and I have plenty of different ways of how the story could end. But most importantly of all, I would never seriously derail a character for something as petty as pairings and I can only pity someone who does. I won't lie, this is probably the only part of the review that I genuinely felt insulted about. I don't mind someone disliking the story, or the characters, or how I've handled things but don't you dare accuse me of something so asinine as that. How would you feel if I said the only reason you seem to dislike this story so much is because I've made one of your favourite characters more villanous. You wouldn't be happy, would you? And I really hope that isn't actually the case. Anyway, I will sum this up now, before I get too angry. In my story, the only reason I'll have pairings is either to create comedy or drama. That is all.**_

_**Now, am I making Vesper too important to the story? Eh, probably. I feel no shame in stating that he's the joint main protagonist of the first half, along with Lyn and he'll become the joint main protagonist with Eliwood, Hector and Lyn in the second half. Problem? Then don't read. I'm not forcing you to. But if you enjoyed Vesper's character up till now, then I don't see why you'd have a problem.**_

_**Which brings me to my biggest point, which I've had to stress multiple times since I started this story. This is not the game. This is merely the novelisation of my take on the game, with an OC tactician. There's going to be plenty that differs from the game, including a very major plot twist coming soon. If you're that unhappy with me changing things, then don't read. It's as simple as that. While I'm happy to accept constructive criticism, this isn't something I'm gonna change my mind on. And at the end of the day, I'm writing this story for my own fun and amusement.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**And we're back! I did warn you that there'd be quite a gap between these two chapters, but I've finally found time in my busy schedule to put the finishing touches to this. That, and I've been preoccupied with my OC One Piece fic, which I'd completely recommend to anyone who likes this fic and also likes One Piece. (Whoo, random blatant advertising!)**_

_**Still, these last few months have helped me improve my writing skills, so expect better and better chapters from now on (whenever I actually finish them).**_

_**I'm also gonna say that I enjoy writing for Wallace so very very much. I'd probably never use him in a playthrough of Blazing Sword, but he's such a joy to write for. I'm tempted to make him the main character now.**_

_**Finally, I'd just like to say a huge thank you to all the fans who've stuck with the story, even after the enormous breaks I've put it on. Thanks guys (or gals).**_

* * *

**Chapter 15**

"Wait, wait, wait..." Vesper sighed, for about the third time. "Go over that one more time."

"For Pete's sake!" Wallace growled. "I'm. On. Your. Side!"

...

"Nope, it's still not sinking in." Vesper shook his head. "You're on _our _side?!"

"Yes!"

...

"Since when?"

"Since the beginning!" Wallace stressed.

"But you tried to kill us! On multiple occasions!" Vesper pointed out.

"I did?" Wallace looked confused. "When?"

"When we first met!" Vesper was growing more and more stressed. "On the path between Sacae and Lycia! Remember?!"

"Oh that!" Wallace chuckled. "Don't worry, I was going to stay out of that fight! Kent and Sain could've easily beaten any bandits I threw at them! I was quite surprised when you all ran away. Seemed kinda cowardly to me."

"Told you!" Sain stuck his tongue out at Vesper.

"Besides..." Wallace continued. "If I'd wanted to kill you and the girl, we'd have just jumped you while the two of you were alone, instead of waiting for Sain and Kent to turn up."

"Okay, good point..." Vesper admitted. "But what about that attack at the castle?"

"Where I deliberately sent in my noisiest bandits to wake you up and prepare you for the attack, instead of attacking with my entire band at once?"

"I'm... one of the noisiest?" Dorcas questioned.

"Then what about how you agreed to help myself and Marquess Araphen with the capture of Lyn?" Rath asked.

"Hah!" Wallace laughed. "You mean how I tricked Fancy-Pants Araphen into hiring my assistance, so I could sneak into the dungeon later and rescue you all?... Well, before you rescued yourselves..."

"Then what about that incident with the cart?" Lyn pointed out.

"Well, we were told that the girl was the one who'd been captured..." Wallace explained. "So naturally, I 'eaded off to rescue her! Then _that_ lyin' snake shot me."

He motioned to Rath, who was doing his best to look inconspicuous.

"Why is 'e still alive, anyway?" Wallace questioned.

"Because he might be useful." Lyn explained. "He's agreed to help us, now that Araphen's given up the hunt."

Rath could barely hide the happy smile that almost crossed his face, upon hearing Lyn say this.

"Wait a minute!" Vesper interrupted. "If you were really secretly on our side, then you'd have given us some sort of sign, right?"

"Yup! I did!" Wallace nodded. "When we first met, I signalled Kent and Sain using the ancient art of eye-signalling that has been passed down through the Caelin Knights for generations! Here, I'll give you a demonstration." He glared angrily at the group. "See! That's the code for 'I'm secretly on your side!"

...

"Well, it kinda just looks like you're staring at us angrily..." Vesper pointed out.

"So I guess you're all convinced then!" Wallace grinned. "I bet you're all kicking yourselves that you didn't guess it sooner!

...

"I... I don't even know what to say about that story..." Vesper groaned.

"With allies like that helping us..." Lyn sighed.

"Wow, Mr Wallace!" Nils gasped. "You must be really smart to pull off something like that!"

He promptly earned a sharp thwack on the head from Matthew.

"That was possibly one of the worst attempts at being a double agent, that I've ever heard of..." Kent sighed. He gave a quick look to Sain, who nodded. "That's _definitely_ General Wallace.

"It scares me how certain you are about that..." Vesper shuddered.

"Well, General Wallace... isn't... um..." Kent and Sain struggled for the right words. "Particularly gifted in the... um... strategic sense."

"Pah!" Wallace spat. "Only cowards rely on something like tactics! A real man should be able to beat off any threat with their own muscles and a large tree trunk!"

...

"You know, I was kind of expecting you to come in with a snarky remark there, Vesper." Lyn prodded the tactician.

"I would do, but that guy absolutely terrifies me." Vesper admitted. "He could probably kill me just by treading on me..."

"He could." Kent nodded.

"We've seen him do it." Sain agreed. "Twice. It's not a pretty sight."

"And I don't need any of those wordy 'strategy' books either!" Wallace continued, ignoring the two. "All you need to get by in life is this!" He pulled a small book out of his pocket. " The Manual of Knightly Prowess!" He stopped to glare at Sain and Kent. "I trust you two still have your copies?"

"Um... well..." Kent and Sain shuffled about nervously. "We... kinda left them in Caelin..."

"What?!" Wallace bellowed. "And you've survived this long?! Good thing I brought spares!"

He began pulling several copies out of his pockets and passing them around to everyone in the group.

"Where's he pulling all those out from?" Lyn wondered.

"And how did he even get them?" Vesper wondered. "It's not like it's easy to get books copied around here..."

"'For the best morning exercise, you should go on a short jog.'" Matthew read. "20 miles is the suggested distance if you want to take it easy, or if you're suffering from a nasty wound. For a full morning exercise routine, turn to page 50." He flicked over the pages and read the description. "...I think I'm gonna pass out..."

"Hey Erk!" Serra grinned. "You should try this. You've been looking a bit weak lately!"

"Only if you try it too." Erk growled, his eye twitching.

"Me!" Serra gasped. "But I'm a young, beautiful maiden! I can't strain myself doing such vigorous exercise."

"Oh don't worry!" Wallace laughed. "There's a special section for women on page 83!"

"Um..."

"I can't read this." Wil sighed, slamming the book shut.

"Does it really look that painful to do?" Lucius asked.

"No... I just can't read." Wil explained. "I should probably get around to learning some time."

"Oh..."

Much to everyone's surprise, Florina looked very interested while reading the book, and was often nodding in agreement.

"Well, at least it isn't compulsory to do these." Vesper sighed, closing the book.

"What's that?!" Wallace walked over, dwarfing Vesper with his sheer size. "We should make this compulsory! Good idea, Buck!"

He reached down and patted Vesper on the head, almost squashing him.

"Um... my name's not Buck..." Vesper groaned under the weight of the giant hand.

"Did you say something Buck?!"

"Never mind..."

"But General Wallace, what are you doing here in the first place?" Sain asked. "I thought you retired?!"

"Well, that's a long story!" Wallace cracked his neck. "And it should probably wait until you meet up with that red-headed prince guy. This news probably involves him too."

"Eliwood?" Vesper suddenly perked up. "How did you know we met up with him?"

"By followin' you with my amazing trackin' skills." Wallace explained.

"Ahahaha!" Vesper gave a fake laugh. "But no, seriously, how did you know?"

"Actually, General Wallace has some renown as a tracker." Kent explained.

"...Y-You're kidding, right?"

"I know, Buck!" Wallace gave Vesper a hearty slap on the back, sending him flying across the room. "Trackin' someone seems like such a cowardly thing to do! But, as I always say, to fight a battle, first you need to find a battle!"

"I can't feel my legs..." Vesper groaned, in a heap on the floor.

"Need a hand, Buck?" Matthew grinned, helping Vesper to his feet.

"Just so you know, if you continue calling me Buck, I'm gonna send you right into a bear cave during our next battle." Vesper growled.

"Why don't you do that to Wallace?" Matthew questioned.

"Because he'd probably kill the bear."

"Good point..." Matthew shrugged.

He turned away and headed to a spot where he presumed Vesper couldn't hear him.

"_Laugh while you still can, Vesper.." _He chuckled, maliciously._ "Because soon you'll prey victim to my most devilishly cunning prank ever..."_

"I can still hear you from there, you know." Vesper pointed out.

"I-I know!" Matthew lied. "I... just wanted to give you a fighting chance!"

"Okay then." Vesper turned back to the group. "Considering how quickly Rath received the message to stop attacking us, I'd estimate Eliwood's probably back by at that village by now. Have we found everything of use here?"

"This guy has nothing suspicious on him." Dorcas pointed to the Black Fang agent that Wallace had killed. "Just a small knife."

"His cloak thing's really cool though." Wil lifted up the cloak that the spy had used to disguise himself as debris. "Can I have it?"

"Sure." Vesper shrugged. "It might come in handy."

"Pah!" Wallace spat. "I don't see why you'd want somethin' like that! A disguise cloak will only slow you down as you charge your way through swarms of enemies!"

"Um... I'm just an archer..." Wil tried to explain.

"An archer!" Wallace roared. "Why would you want to be one of those?! A bow will only slow you down as you charge your way through swarms of enemies!"

"Look, not all problems can be solved by charging your way through stuff." Vesper sighed in frustration.

"Hah!" Wallace laughed. "That's how I solve all my problems, and look how well I've turned out!"

Vesper opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly thought better of it. Instead, he turned to Ninian.

"Are you sure there's nothing more you can remember about this place, which'll give us some clues as to what they were doing here?" He asked.

"I'm sorry." Ninian shook her head. "I was blindfolded when they brought me here so-"

"That's alright." Lyn smiled reassuringly. "What about the bodies, Vesper?"

"I'd like to dig more of them up..." Vesper admitted. "But, considering how thorough they've been, I doubt they've left anything behin-"

"Hey!" Wil suddenly gasped. "I found something!"

"What?!" Vesper dashed over to get a closer look. "What is it?!"

"I found this hidden in one of the cloak pockets!" Wil explained, passing him a small notebook. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

Vesper flicked through it for a couple of seconds. His eyes widened in shock. Then, before anyone could comment on it, he snapped the book shut and placed it in his cloak.

"It's blank." He explained.

"Aw... really?!" Wil groaned. "I thought I'd found something important..."

"Sorry to disappoint." Vesper shrugged. "Okay, everyone get ready to move out." He stopped suddenly and motioned to Lyn, Rath and Wallace. "Actually, could I have a quick private meeting with you three?"

"Sure." Lyn nodded, following him into a private area. "What is it?"

"Hang on a second." Vesper took a look around, to make sure no-one else was spying on them. This surprised Lym, since Vesper usually didn't care if the... 'nosier' members of the troupe were eavesdropping.

"Vesper, what is it?" Lyn repeated, this time with more urgency.

"All right." Vesper was satisfied that they weren't being spied on. "I've called you three here because you're the only ones I can trust."

Lyn and Wallace both looked at Rath, then back to Vesper.

"Really?!" The two questioned simultaneously.

"I must admit, I share their surprise." Rath nodded.

"This is no joking matter." Vesper scowled. "Now, I don't really want to tell you this, but it could save our lives."

"What?!" Lyn asked, wondering what could've possibly gotten Vesper so worked up. "What could be so important?!"

Vesper let out a deep sigh.

"I think there's a traitor in the group."


	16. Chapter 16

**_New chapter! Yey! And you didn't have to wait (too) long for it!_**

**_Anyway, brief note, I was doing a bit of re-reading of my old stuff, to get me back in the writing mood, as well as fixing spelling mistakes and spacing errors and well... I don't know how I made this mistake, but I kinda flubbed up an important line in Chapter 7 and accidentally put 'Taction' instead of 'Tactician' (seriously, how did I even do that? Why does my spell checker never work?) Considering it's quite an important line (or will become important later on), I figured I should point that out._**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

"Wha- What?!" Lyn gasped. "A traitor! That can't be right! No-one here would betray us!" She glimpsed briefly at Rath. "_Almost_ no-one!"

"Just as I thought we'd finally gotten over that..." Rath muttered under his breath.

"Speakin' of, how come you trust that slimy nomad?" Wallace scowled. "He'd be the first I'd suspect of being a traitor..."

"You found something, didn't you?" Rath realised. "Something that proves a traitor on the team, but clears me and Wallace from suspicion."

Vesper nodded solemnly and tossed the notebook that Wil had found onto the ground. Lyn picked it up and flicked through it. Like Vesper had said, it was completely blank... well, almost...

On the front two pages, there were two sketches of Lyn and Rath, with some writing underneath.

* * *

"**Make it look like the male broke free and that they killed each other."**

* * *

Lyn shivered slightly.

"So that man Wallace killed was really an assassin?" She snapped the book shut.

"Yep." Vesper nodded, taking the notebook from Lyn and placing it back into his pocket. "Obviously, the Black Fang were planning on making it look like Rath broke free and that the two of you killed each other. Considering the... history you two have, it wouldn't be all that surprising."

"Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious." Rath coughed, looking slightly embarrassed. "So how does this show that there's a traitor on the team?"

"Because there's too much about this that doesn't add up." Vesper explained. "While I can believe that it wouldn't be too hard to find out that Rath had been hired to kill Lyn, how did the assassin know that we'd captured Rath?"

"Hah! Hahaha!" Lyn couldn't help but laugh a little. "But that's obvious! He must've been spying on us all this time! He must have seen when Rath surrendered! That explains it! You're overthinking things, Vesper! There's no traitor! Right?!"

Rath and Wallace turned their heads away, awkwardly.

"R-Right?! Right, you guys?! Guys...?!"

"Lyn.." Vesper said as gently as he could. "If he was spying on us all this time, then why did he need the sketches of you two?"

This hit Lyn like a rampaging Wyvern. She almost collapsed, but Wallace lent her an arm to hold onto.

"So you think that one of our group gave him his orders, along with the sketches?" Rath summed up. "It's possible. The group was separated for quite a long time, when we were digging up the bodies."

"Yep." Vesper nodded. "Currently, I think-"

"W-Wait!" Lyn interrupted. "I've got it! Obviously there was another Black Fang spy who watched us argue, then crept away and told the assassin! That explains it!"

"It's possible..." Vesper admitted. "But unlikely. Matthew is pretty diligent when it comes to searching and he couldn't find any booby traps, or anything. And even if he missed the guy, we were all spread out across the base, so he'd have a hard time sneaking away. Not to mention, any spy with some sort of common sense would've waited for us to leave, and avoid getting caught, before reporting to the assassin. It's not like this base is the only place the assassin could've struck."

"So why did he strike here?" Rath asked.

"I'm not sure." Vesper shrugged. "Maybe he thought it'd be easier to get you two while we were all separated. Maybe he was just scouting you out and Wallace caught him by surprise. Maybe-"

"Maybe Wallace was the one spying on us, then set up the assassin to gain our trust?" Rath suggested, casting a sly glance at Wallace.

"Maybe you should shut your damn mouth, before I rip it off!" Wallace growled. "Spying's a dishonourable business. No true knight of Caelin would even be caught lyin', never mind spyin'! Spying's much more of a job for cowardly, shifty, nomad bastards! I bet you set this up with your assassin buddy, pretended to surrender, then you were plannin' on killing him yourself to gain Lady Lyndis's trust, so you can put a knife in her back!"

"Stop it you two." Lyn said, her voice surprisingly calm. "If what Vesper said is true, then we should be working together to find this traitor, not accusing each other. Vesper, do you have anything that can help us narrow down the traitor's identity?"

"Um- Y-Yeah!" Vesper nodded, surprised by how well Lyn had taken charge. "To begin with, there's this place. It's quite obvious too, how it shows the existence of a traitor. A child could've spotted it."

There was a brief pause as the group waited for Vesper to continue. Lyn eventually realised that Vesper just wanted them to feed his ego.

"Fine then, oh great and knowledgeable Vesper." She said with a weary sigh. "What about this place is odd?"

"It's been burnt down." Vesper explained, smugly.

"Thank you, oh great and knowledgeable Vesper, for** pointing out the bleeding obvious!"** Lyn scowled.

"No no, but think about it!" Vesper explained. "Why would they strip and burn this place to the ground? Considering some bits are still smouldering, this was done pretty recently."

"Perhaps they no longer needed this base?" Rath suggested.

"Ah, but if that was true, they would've gotten rid of those bodies completely, instead of burying them in a shallow grave." Vesper pointed out. "The most logical solution is that they knew we were coming and wanted to cover their tracks. And that would mean that someone in our group tipped them off. Since Rath and Wallace joined up with us after we arrived, there's no way that they could be the traitors."

"Well, surely someone could've just noticed us heading towards the base and put two and two together?" Lyn figured.

"Normally, I'd agree with you," Vesper continued. "But, considering how erratic Ninian's directions were, there's no way that they could've figured out we were heading towards the Black Fang base. Did you know that we actually started off heading in the wrong direction?"

"Her sense of direction is still better than yours." Lyn teased.

"Shut up." Vesper sulked.

"Is it possible that someone might've overheard you when told Nils that you had decided to go retrieve Ninian's ring?" Rath asked.

"Hah! Like anyone could sneak up and eavesdrop on us! That'd be ridiculous!" Vesper laughed. Then it hit him. "Wait a minute, how did you know that we-?!"

"Obviously, not by sneaking up and eavesdropping on you." Rath said smugly. "Because that'd be ridiculous."

"Showoff..." Vesper muttered.

"So it's possible someone could've eavesdropped on us?" Lyn summed up.

"It is." Rath agreed. "But, unlike you lot, I'm a lot more cautious and I'm pretty sure I wasn't being watched. Besides, if we've already agreed that there's a traitor among us, then it's much more likely that they're responsible."

"I guess..." Lyn looked deep in thought. "Perhaps-"  
"GRAAAAHHH!" Wallace roared suddenly. "I've had it with all these 'perhaps's' and 'maybes'! A real warrior shouldn't need to bother with all this complicated crap! My head's hurting! I need to go fight someone! "

"Uh... maybe we should take a break?" Vesper suggested. "We can continue this meeting later."

"I'd agree with that..." Lyn sighed, taking a seat. "It's hard to take in all of this at once."

"Okay then!" Wallace grinned. "I need to go do my daily exercise! Headbutting down a tree!"

"That was a joke... right?" Rath raised a questioning eyebrow.

"No. Why?" Wallace looked slightly confused.

"Never mind..."

"Well, if you're interested, you can come and train with me, yah nomad bastard!" Wallace gave Rath a hearty slap on the back, sending him stumbling a few paces. "When it comes to training, anyone's welcome! You want to come too, Buck?"

"N-No thank you." Vesper politely refused. "I'm busy doing... strategy stuff."

"Pah!" Wallace spat. "I don't see why you'd want to do somethin' like that! A strategy will only slow you down as you charge your way through swarms of enemies! Anyway, come along Rath. We've got training to do!"

"Um... We?!" Rath was dragged off unwillingly by Wallace. "While I'm happy to try and help you trust me, this doesn't seem like the best idea... Hey are you listening to me?"

Lyn watched the two go with a sigh. "And they're two of the most trusted members of our army...?"

"Yup." Vesper nodded. "We're screwed."

* * *

"Vesper." Lyn asked. "Do you have any theories on who the traitor might be?"

"I do." Vesper nodded. "Plenty of them."

...

Lyn waited for Vesper to go on, but he stayed silent.

"Fine, fine." She sighed. "Oh great and knowledgeable Vesper, who-?"

"Thanks, but that's not going to work." Vesper interrupted. "I don't have any real evidence towards any of them and I don't want you to become biased towards, or you may end up missing the real traitor."

"Okay." Lyn understood. "So you can't tell me who you think the traitor _isn't _then, right?"

"No, I can tell you that!" Vesper nodded. "I'm pretty much convinced that Wil isn't the traitor, since he openly gave me the notebook, instead of keeping it secret."

"So why didn't you invite him to this meeting?" Lyn questioned.

"Well..." Vesper scratched his head awkwardly. "Wil isn't exactly known for his... secret keeping ability."

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"Hey Nils." Wil greeted. "Where'd you get that cool ring?"

"Oh, it's my sister's!" Nils explained. "Matthew found it for me!"

"Mathew did...?" Wil scratched his head. "That doesn't seem like him?"

"Yeah!" Nils nodded. "But he's actually a really nice guy. Oh, but he made me promise not to tell anyone! Don't tell him I told you!"

"Don't worry Nils." Wil smiled. "I'll keep it a secret..."

* * *

"Hey Serra!" Wil grinned. "You'll never guess what Nils told me about Matthew!"

"Wil, I'm still here!" Nils pointed out. "You haven't left the room!"

"Oh..." Wil scratched his head awkwardly. "Anyway, apparently, Matthew-"

* * *

"Okay, okay I get your point." Lyn sighed. "Anybody else? What about Kent and Sain?"

Vesper couldn't help but hear the slight glimmer of hope in her voice.

"Relax." He assured her. "I'm pretty sure they're not involved."

"So why didn't you invite them?" Lyn asked. "Even if Sain isn't exactly the most tight lipped, Kent's more than reliable enough."

"I said I was pretty sure about them." Vesper shot her a look. "I didn't say I was certain."

"Okay." Lyn let out a deep sigh. "I hate this. Having to suspect and question all of our friends... It just feels wrong to think that any of them might've done it."

"I know how you feel." Vesper sat down and for the first time, Lyn could see how tired he looked. His face looked pale and there were bags under his eyes. Lyn saw his leg nervously twitching... or was it shaking? Lyn had been surprised at how calm Vesper had been taking all of this, but was it possible that, deep down, he was suffering just as much as she was? Heck, he'd been the first to spot the possibility of the traitor, from ridiculously small clues. Was it possible that he was always this paranoid? Deep down, was he always this suspicious of his friends? Of her?

"You're taking all of this better than I thought." Vesper interrupted her trail of thought.

"Huh?" Lyn blinked in surprise. "Oh. Oh yeah! I suppose it just hasn't sunken in yet."

"Yeah." Vesper nodded. "I was expecting you to be all 'Oh, this horrible shock is too much to take! I need an intelligent, but not-necessarily-strong man to comfort me. Who likes wearing green.'"

"You seriously expected me to act like that?" Lyn raised her eyebrow.

"Hell no." Vesper admitted. "Heck, I'd probably be terrified if you started acted like that!"

"Yeah..." Lyn chuckled. "Hey Vesper, I've got something I want to ask you about."

"It's not about that ferret you found in your tent, is it?" Vesper asked. "Because I swear that was all Matthew's idea. I don't even know where he managed to find that thing."

...

"Okay, I _have_ two things I want to ask you about." Lyn corrected. "But first of all, you explained why you were sure Rath and Wallace weren't the traitor, but what about me? How come you don't suspect me?"

"Are you serious?" Vesper looked like he was about to burst out laughing. "Lyn, I trust you more than I trust myself! We've not been travelling together for all that long but, I can already tell that there's no way in hell you'd ever betray your friends!"

"Thanks." Lyn smiled slightly and got to her feet. "I suppose I should go and help everybody move out then."

"You do that." Vesper nodded. "I'm gonna go nap somewhere and avoid Wallace."

"Alright." Lyn sighed, walking off. "By the way, I'm gonna have a little chat with you later on about that ferret..."

With that she was gone, leaving Vesper alone with his thoughts. After a few minutes of silence, Vesper let out a loud sigh and got to his feet.

"I can't relax here!" He groaned. "Not with everything that's just happened! Maybe I should go help Lyn... Nah, I'm sure she's got it under control."

* * *

"Timber!" Wallace roared, smashing his head into the large oak tree.

"Not near the supply wagon!"

* * *

"Completely under control..." Vesper confirmed. "Anyway, I'm sure there's a patch of grass outside I can nap in."

As he headed out of the room, he suddenly realised that one of his pockets felt a bit light.

"That's odd..." He muttered, fishing through his pockets. "I could've sworn that I put the notebook in here..."

* * *

Hidden behind a large pile of debris, Matthew watched Vesper desperately search his pockets, in complete silence. Eventually, Vesper gave up and left the room to search elsewhere. Once he was sure that Vesper was gone, Matthew emerged from his hiding place, holding a small notebook in his hands...

"Sorry Vesper." He muttered quietly. "But my own priorities always come first."


	17. Chapter 17

****_**Another new chapter! Don't expect me to update this regularly though. The only reason this chapter is out so soon is because I decided to split it in two after I accidentally ended up writing way too much. Anyway, this is probably the first ever two-part support chapter, especially since I've found out how useful they are for character development. Today's line up, albeit a small one, includes...**_

_**Vesper + Matthew**_

_**Lyn + Wallace**_

__**_And that's about it... Yeah... I was surprised by how long those two dragged out. Don't worry though, the rest of the crew will get their moments next chapter. Also, there's a large twist at the end of this chapter and, unless I end up splitting the next chapter into two as well, there's going to be an even bigger, game-changing twist next chapter._**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

"Hey Lyn, have you seen that notebook?" Vesper asked. "I haven't seen it anywhere."

"Huh?" Lyn seemed to be preoccupied with something. "Um, no I haven't. I'm kinda busy at the moment."

"Oh, okay." Vesper let out a loud yawn. "I suppose I can look for it later, after I've had a nice long nap on the-" He paused a second. "What happened to the supply wagon?"

* * *

"Come on, you lousy maggots!" Wallace roared. "I want to see at least 10 more laps before you can break!"

"Dammit, why I am I being forced to run! I'm just a tactician!" Vesper yelled. Or at least that was what he was trying to say. He was so exhausted that it came out more as a "Gnuuuuh..."

"Come on Vesper." Lyn jogged up alongside him. "You really haven't run that far."

"Gnuuuuh..." Vesper moaned, which roughly translated to "Shut up."

"Everyone else is doing just fine." Lyn pointed out. "Well, except for Nils who tripped and accidentally smashed into a tree. And Matthew, who just didn't show up. Personally, I think it was a great idea to put Wallace in charge of personal fitness."

"Gnuuuuh..."

Lyn wasn't sure what that one meant, but she guessed it wasn't exactly polite.

"If you want, I can try and get you excused." She offered.

"Gnuuh! Gnuuh!" Vesper slowly, and tiredly, nodded his head in agreement.

"But only if you say pretty please." Lyn grinned.

Vesper simply collapsed, flopping on the ground like some sort of fish.

"Are you okay?" Lyn asked.

"_**I'm sorry Lyn..." **_Vesper groaned, as if on his deathbed, his voice suddenly clear. **_"I guess this is where we part ways... I'm sorry I couldn't help you save your homeland... I guess I can finally see you again, Saria..."_**

Then he lay still.

"Alright, alright." Lyn gave Vesper a sharp kick. "I'll go talk to Wallace."

She stormed off muttering annoyed curses under her breath.

"Thank God for that." Vesper sighed.

Too tired to get up and move, he slowly rolled to the side of the path and came to rest against a tree. At least now he could get a nice, long na-

"Look out below!"

Matthew suddenly dropped down from the tree, almost flattening Vesper, who barely even flinched.

"Hey Matthew." Vesper greeted.

"Wow." Matthew was surprised at Vesper's calm reaction. "I guess you've finally gotten used to my surprise entrances."

"Hell no!" Vesper chuckled. "That was friggin' terrifying! I'm just way too tired to react to anything, right now."

"Really..." Matthew suddenly had a sly grin on his face. "So you won't mind if I do this?"

He began poking Vesper in the cheek.

"No, I can't do anything to _stop_ you doing that." Vesper corrected. "But, it's still pissing me off beyond imagination."

Matthew, naturally, continued poking.

"Seriously," Vesper growled. "Continue doing that and, in our next battle, I'm sending you to battle an entire cavalry unit head on. Armed with a twig."

"Bit harsh, don't you think?" Matthew grinned. "You've been really grumpy lately, you know. Ever since we left that Black Fang base."

"Well, discovering a mass-grave didn't exactly lift my spirits." Vesper sighed.

"No. It's not that." Matthew's face took on a more serious tone. "There's something else. Something more serious."

"Since when did you start taking psychology lessons?" Vesper joked, but Matthew wasn't smiling.

"It's written all over your face." He said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"To put it bluntly..." Vesper pretended to think a moment. "No. Now stop bothering me, or I'll tell Wallace where you're hiding."

"Suit yourself." Matthew shrugged, getting up to leave. "Tell me if you reconsider."

Vesper watched Matthew leaving and sighed.

"Why would I share my suspicions with my prime suspect?" He muttered, under his breath.

* * *

When Vesper had first entertained the idea of a traitor, Matthew was the first person who sprung to mind. After all, anyone who spends several days following you must have some ulterior motive. That was precisely the reason that Vesper had let him join the group in the first place.

One of the first lessons that Vesper had learnt from his teacher , when dealing with spies, was that torture and threats were never the right way to go. Not because of any real moral reason but because information gained under torture was notoriously unreliable. People will say anything to lessen their pain, whether it's true or not. A much more reliable way to gain information from them was simply to let them stay close and analyse their actions. There's a reason you're supposed to keep your enemies closer than your friends. As such, Vesper had tried to spend most of his free time with Matthew, hoping he'd slip up a little and reveal something important.

Vesper had gotten absolutely nothing from Matthew. He still wasn't even sure who he was working for.

The only useful thing he'd found out was that Matthew had been present the night he had been attacked by Ephidel and even that wasn't of much help. Matthew had an annoying habit of disappearing for hours on end, which most people assumed was because he was trying to skip work, but Vesper he was reporting back to his spymasters, whoever they were.

However, there was one slight slip-up Matthew had made quite recently. He had given Nils back his sister's ring.

Matthew had convinved Nils not to tell anyone so, naturally, by the end of day, everyone knew. When Vesper heard the news, he thought it incredibly suspicious. The entire base had been stripped of anything valuable, so why would they leave an expensive looking gold ring? It only served to convince Vesper that there was a traitor on the team, who told the Black Fang of their objective and, as the one who found the ring, Matthew was the obvious suspect. However, mmuch to Vesper's chagrin, he didn't have anything concrete. It was perfectly possible that Matthew found the ring by coincidence and, until he could be sure, Vesper didn't want to do anything to him. However, Vesper had a feeling that Matthew had figured out Vesper's suspicions towards him, which was good an bad. On the bad side, Matthew would put more effort into not being discovered. On the other hand, the added tension would mean he was more likely to slip up.

It was just a matter of time.

* * *

"Lady Lyndis!" Wallace grunted. "What brings you to my humble training post? Need a break?"

"No, I'm fine." Lyn assured him. "Vesper just wanted me to tell you that he's too tired to train today." After a pause she added, "But he's volunteered to do double training tomorrow."

"Who's Vesper?" Wallace looked at her with genuine confusion.

"Er... I mean, Buck."

"Oh, okay." Wallace brightened up. "You know, I'm surprised he didn't ask me sooner. I would've thought he'd have tactical stuff to do, or hunting down spies. I would've been perfectly willing to let him off training for that."

"Uh, I'll be sure to tell him that." Lyn nodded.

"He could still use some exercise though." Wallace continued. "I mean, look at his weedy frame! How are you supposed to fight your way through swarms of enemies, when you're about as strong as a twig! I blame all those trips in the supply wagon. You should stop him riding on that."

"Well, considering you _**headbutted a tree onto it**_, I don't think that'll be much of a problem." Lyn assured.

"Bah." Wallace snorted. "You sound like Hassar."

"My father?!" Lyn was taken back. "You knew my father?"

"Knew him!" Wallace laughed. "I trained him myself!... Well, trained with him, but it's the same difference."

"What... what was he like?" Lyn asked.

"He was a great man." There was a wistful tone to Wallace's voice. "There was no-one else I'd trust to have my back. Certainly not the slimy nomad we have at the moment."

"You shouldn't be so hard on Rath." Lyn said, to her own surprise. "I really think he regrets what he did."

"I guess..." Wallace admitted. "I suppose part of me keeps comparing him to Hassar. Hassar wasn't the sort of guy who could just be replaced. He was a true warrior."

"I... I suppose you heard about his death." Lyn managed to keep tears out of her eyes.

"Aye." Wallace nodded grimly. "Actually, that's the reason I came out here in the first place. After I was forced into retirement, I set up a peaceful little farm in Ilia. It was a pleasant life. Planting crops, tending to fields, fighting off attacking bandits, hunting down attacking bandits, beating the leaders of bandits to bloody pulps, taking control of the bandits and setting them to do all the hard work in my fields. Very pleasant."

"I-I can imagine..." Lyn lied.

"Anyway, when I heard that your father had been killed, I gathered up me mates and went on a hunt for revenge." Wallace growled. "Unfortunately... we had no idea where the Talliver Bandits were. We thought we found them a couple of times and went kamikaze on then, but they turned out to be normal villages. Anyway, somehow we earned a reputation as vicious bandits who would attack anyone. I've no idea why."

"S-Same."

"Then, while we were searching, I was approached by someone..." Wallace looked uncomfortable at the thought.

"Who... asked you to kill me." Lyn put two and two together.

"Aye..." Wallace's face took on an angry tone. "I very nearly snapped that sleazeball's neck there and then but I figured, if I didn't take the job, he'd just get someone else to do it. And there was no way in hell I was gonna let anyone touch my friend's daughter!"

Lyn couldn't help but smile a little. "Thank you for that. I really appreciate it."

"Least I could do." Wallace took a deep sigh and sat down. "You know, you look a lot like your mother."

"Huh?" Lyn was surprised by the emotion in Wallace's voice. "You knew my mother as well?"

"Well... not that well." Wallace admitted. "I only saw her a few times in passing, but Hassar...?" He had a wistful smile on his face. "I guess, for him, it was love at first sight. He couldn't stop talking about her. Even during training! I tried tellin' him that a woman would only slow him down as he charged his way through swarms of enemies... present company excluded."

"It's cool." Lyn reassured him. "Go on. Tell me more."

"Anyway, he wouldn't listen to me." Wallace snorted a little. "And he only got worse once the two started seeing each other. Turned out it was love at first sight for Madelyn too. Of course, it was a complete secret so, naturally, the entire camp knew. But we would never rat a fellow knight out. Heck, we even covered for him for a couple of guard duties. Then, one night, Hassar and Madelyn both entered my tent." Wallace's face turned dark. "They were planning to run away and wanted me to come with them. I tried to talk them out of it, but they couldn't be persuaded." Wallace let out a deep sigh. "To this day, I regret not going with them..."

Wallace sat silently, staring into the distance. Lyn found herself placing her hand on his shoulder.

"You couldn't have prevented their deaths." She said gently.

"I know..." Wallace sighed. "I know..."

"Hey, what's that?" Lyn tried to change the subject, pointing at something loosely pinned to Wallace's armour.

"Oh, this?" Wallace unpinned a small badge from his clothes. "It's a Knight's Crest. Hassar gave it to me as a leaving present. I've no idea what it does, but it looks nice."

"Maybe Vesp... Buck knows what it is." Lyn suggested. "He's pretty knowlegable about these sort of things."

"Lyn..." Wallace looked at her worryingly. "How well do you know Vesper?"

"Huh?" Lyn was taken back. "Well, I know him better than I know anyone else in this group. I mean, we started off travelling together..." She suddenly realised what Wallace was implying. "Do you think _Vesper's_ the traitor?!"

"No." Wallace admitted. "If you trust him, then that's good enough for me. But I'm worried about him. Or, more specifically, what he'll do."

"I don't know what you mean." For some reason, Lyn felt incredibly nervous.

"I've met people like him." Wallace explained. "The type that think way too much. While, at first, they seem fantastic people to have on your side, every battle slowly takes its toll on them. They begin to blame themselves for every minor mistake and casualty, no matter how out of their hands it is. Then, when you need them most... they break."

"Vesper isn't like that!"

That was what Lyn wanted to say. That was what she tried to say but, deep down, she knew that Wallace's words had a ring of truth to them. She couldn't help but think back to what Vesper had said in Araphen.

"_**How do you think I feel?!"**_

"What should we do?" She asked instead.

"There's nothing we can do." Wallace sighed. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe nothing will happen. But maybe, one day, everything will finally take its toll on Vesper. If that does happen..." Wallace's face took a grave tone. "Pray that it doesn't cause our deaths."

* * *

"Relax Marcus, I'm sure Lyn, Vesper and their companions will be back soon." Eliwood assured his bodyguard as the two wandered through the old village, in which the two groups had met. "So stop worrying."

"There's just something I don't like about this country." Marcus growled, drumming his hand nervously on his sword hilt. "A dark shadow hanging over it... I've never been wrong about these things before."

"What about that time in the Western Isles?" Eliwood questioned.

"...Okay, that one I concede." Marcus coughed, embarrassed into his hand. "I still blame it on Lowen's chestnut pie."

"You need to lighten up and stop worrying, Marcus." Eliwood smiled, approaching the old cottage in which the two were staying. "It's not like danger's lurking around every corner.

He opened the door to find several lances pointing as his throat.

"Lord Eliwood!" Marcus drew his sword, but he was surrounded by guards, before he could do anything.

"Drop your sword, Marcus." Eliwood ordered calmly.

"But, my Lord-!"

"I said drop it." Eliwood repeated. "I'm certain these men mean us no harm." He turned to one of the men inside the cottage. "Am I correct?"

"We'll see." Lord Lundgren sat at the table, casually chewing a chicken wing. "Now, I believe you've met my blasted niece?"


End file.
